30 Days of Bandtrees: April
by impossibledaisy
Summary: A collection of Bandtrees/Zoevan one-shots based off of an April-inspired prompt list. (COMPLETED) [Also, try giving the later days a try, I start getting better a little before the halfway point. :D]
1. Day One: Rabbit

**A/N: Hey y'all, I'm going to be doing one-shots every day this month with a list of April-related prompts I found. This will be a challenge to write every night, but I will do my very best! Hope you enjoy. **

Day 1: Rabbit

_Zoe and Evan find an abandoned baby rabbit in the park and take care of it while acting like worried parents._

The sun shone lightly through the trees of the park. Evan kept one hand intertwined with Zoe's and the other out, pointing out different species of plants. Zoe's eyes stayed focused on Evan's face. She _was_ listening to him. But mostly she loved seeing him get excited over trees. That face beat the view of any park. Evan leaned out a bit to point out a big leafy tree a couple feet away.

"That right there is an American Sycamore. It can grow up to 100 feet, but that one looks closer to 75 feet." Evan turned his head to Zoe, who blushed when he caught her staring. Evan chuckled a little bit. "Do you want to see it up closer?" Zoe gave him a wide smile.

"Sure, Ev," she replied, squeezing his hand tighter. Evan smiled back and began to walk up to the very large tree. Evan's face lit up as he stood underneath the foliage. Zoe grinned, glancing at the features of the tree. Something hidden in the roots caught her attention. She let go of Evan's hand for a moment to walk over and check it out. She pushed her hair out of her face and squinted. It was something small and furry. "Oh my god, Evan come here."

Standing in the grass was the smallest rabbit Zoe had ever seen. It was all alone, looking around in confusion. Zoe crouched down to the ground. Evan walked over next to her and did the same.

"Aww." Evan looked down at the rabbit, and then to Zoe. "I wonder where its mother is."

"I think it's lost, the poor thing," Zoe said with a frown. She reached out her hands to the bunny. "Come here, little guy." It took a hop away from her, but Zoe managed to catch it in her hands. "Aww, it's ok, don't be scared. I won't hurt you." Zoe looked back to Evan. "Let's go try and find its mom."

"But first," Evan said as he stood up, giving her a sheepish grin. "What should we name it?" Zoe gave him a smug smile and shook her head a little. "I say it looks like a Dusty."

"Mmm, that's too basic. I say we go with Zoe Jr." Zoe smirked back at Evan, who chuckled.

"Fine, but our next child we're naming after me," Evan joked, kissing Zoe on the cheek. She blushed and looked down at the little rabbit in her hands.

"I wonder if she's hungry. Do you have anything we can give her?" Zoe frowned a bit.

"Yeah, I'll get the lettuce I keep with me at all times." Evan gave her a cheeky smile.

"Since when did you get all sassy?" Zoe was almost impressed. "You've been saving up the dad jokes for a while, hm?"

"I've got the broken-in baseball glove and everything." Evan put his hands in his pockets and walked up to Zoe's side. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Come on, let's try and find Zoe Jr.'s mom." Zoe started to walk around and peek around the corners of trees. There were so many little spots for rabbits to hide. But no rabbits. "I'm not seeing anything. How about you?" She leaned back to call out to Evan, who was investigating a large rock.

"Nothing. No sign of motherly looking bunnies."

"I think it's time we start looking at daycare for Zoe Jr." Zoe chuckled, petting the rabbit in her hand with her thumb.

"Yeah, because there's no way we're letting Jared babysit her. Alana, maybe. But Jared will somehow get her watching R-rated movies and eating nothing but chocolate," Evan said.

"I don't doubt that," Zoe replied. "Yeah, that bad 'ol Uncle Jared's not a good influence for you," she baby-talked the rabbit. The two of them searched for another 10 minutes with no luck. They decided to take a break and spend some time with their adoptive furry daughter. They sat in the shade of a big tree (which Evan pointed out was an oak) and let Zoe Jr. hop around in the grass. Zoe rested her head on Evan's shoulder as they watched her.

"She's so grown up," Evan said with a half-smile. Zoe looked up and smiled widely.

"We've done good." Zoe booped Evan on the nose. They looked into each other's eyes before sharing a quick kiss. Zoe kept her eyes closed for a few moments.

"Uh, Zo?" Evan asked, a worried tone in his voice.

"Mm?" Zoe opened her eyes a bit.

"Where'd Zoe Jr. go?" Zoe sat bolt upright and looked around. The rabbit was nowhere in sight.

"Shit." She stood up and helped Evan to his feet. She started walking around and searching. She turned back to Evan. "We are terrible parents." Evan just shrugged. They decided to walk back to the tree where they found Zoe Jr. A flash of brown alerted Zoe's eyes. Hidden beneath the roots of a small tree not more than 5 feet away from the sycamore was little Zoe Jr. hopping along next to a larger rabbit who could only be her mother. Zoe walked up a little closer, not wanting to disturb the family, and crouched down. She gave her a little wave and stood back up. Evan walked up behind her and put his arm around her shoulder.

"She doesn't need us anymore," Evan said, looking down at Zoe.

"Yeah, but she'll always remember us, huh?" Zoe made eye contact with Evan.

"And maybe next time we won't lose the baby." Evan chuckled.

"Yeah, I think that'd be preferable." Zoe smiled and leaned in for a kiss.


	2. Day Two: Baseball

**A/N: Hey y'all! Here's Day 2. This one is quite a bit longer and it kind of skips around a lot, but it's cute. Also it is an AU where Connor is alive because I really wanted him to annoy Zoe and Evan. He will be alive in the rest of these, but just probably a less prominent character. But who'd have thought I'd be writing a baseball story. I grew up with baseball because my brother plays and my dad loves it, and I used to play but now I just kind of hate it, so that's how I wrote Zoe's feelings towards the sport. Anyway, enjoy!**

Day 2: Baseball

_Larry is dragging Zoe to a major league baseball game, and if Zoe has to go, she's bringing Evan with her._

"So you wouldn't mind coming with me? I'm going to _die _of boredom," Zoe said, laying down on her bed, phone in hand.

"No, I wouldn't mind. I've never been to a baseball game before." Evan's voice rang from her phone, which was on speaker.

"I've been forced to many times before. I'm pretty sure it's the most boring sport ever. But my Dad loves the Yankees, so we go to opening day pretty much every year." She stared up at her ceiling. "The food is pretty good, though."

"Well, in that case," Evan laughed. Zoe smiled to herself.

"Thank you so much, Ev. Don't know what I'd do without you," Zoe said, sitting back up.

"I know, you'd be going to a baseball game and you'd be miserable while your dad talked way too much about the game, your mom would spend the entire night drinking and chatting up the people sitting next to you guys, and Connor would end up sneaking off to who knows where in the park," Evan said, clearly remembering what Zoe told him about the last game they went to.

"Wow it's like you know my family." Zoe smirked.

"Nah," Evan chuckled.

"Well I'll see you then, I guess," She said, leaning forward on her bed.

"I'll get my non-existent baseball cap ready!" Zoe rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Ok then, sports boy, you do that. I'll see you tomorrow. I love you."

"Love you too," Evan said, and ended the call.

After a long and quite awkward car ride (with Evan, Zoe, and Connor all squeezed into the back seat) the Murphys plus one Hansen arrived at Yankee Stadium. The crowds around the stadium were enormous. At least 1000 people just outside the gates. Evan quickly took Zoe's hand to make sure he didn't lose her. Once they got their tickets scanned, Larry regrouped them.

"Alright, so you all know how it goes. You're free to do what you wish while we're here, but nobody disturbs me while the game is on, and nobody says anything that will jinx the game." Zoe rolled her eyes and looked up to Evan.

"Jinx the game?" Evan whispered to Zoe.

"Don't say anything like 'they're totally gonna win this!' or 'they're gonna get a hit now!' My dad is really superstitious," Zoe whispered back. Evan nodded quickly.

"And Connor, no leaving the park again," Cynthia started. Connor groaned and folded his arms. Evan raised his eyebrows to Zoe, who shrugged. "Zoe, only one bag of cotton candy please, I don't want to have the same problem we did last time." Zoe scoffed and put her hands on her hips.

"Do I wanna know?" Evan whispered as he leaned in towards Zoe. She shook her head.

"Alright, we'll meet back here after the game," Larry said, already walking towards his seat.

"Or when it gets so bad that he can't stand to watch anymore," Cynthia stage-whispered to the kids before turning to follow Larry. The three of them stood awkwardly in silence.

"Well if I can't leave, I'm just going to follow you guys around. Not much else better to do," Connor said, shrugging. Zoe grimaced.

"You really _don't_ have to, Connor," Zoe said through her teeth.

"Fine, but if I can't I'm going to leave anyway, and you can explain to Mom where I went." Zoe frowned and turned to Evan. He raised his eyebrows as he put his hands in his pockets.

"Ugh, whatever. Just don't cause any trouble. And no stupid comments." She pointed straight at Connor, then took Evan's arm.

"Can't make any promises, Zozo," Connor smirked as he walked in front of the couple towards the concession stand.

"I swear to- Connor!" Zoe yelled. She pointed her finger to Evan. "Don't even think about calling me that or I will tell Jared about 'Little Evy.'"

"Ok! You have my word!" Evan exclaimed, his voice considerably higher. Zoe scrunched up her nose and gave Evan a kiss on the cheek.

"Ok, let's go find Connor and get a hot dog." Evan took one of his hands out of his pockets so Zoe could grab it. The two of them walked to the concession stand where Connor stood in line, looking at his phone. They joined the line with him, and Zoe whispered something into his ear, which Evan thought sounded like _a lot _of swearing. Then she stepped back to stand next to Evan.

"You should get the steak and potato fries, you'd like them." She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Ok." he squeezed her hand and smiled. As they approached the cashier, Evan felt his breathing get a little heavier. Zoe lifted her head.

"You ok?"

"Could you uh- could you order for me?" He bit his lip and made eye contact with Zoe. She nodded quickly.

"Of course. Whenever you need me to, just let me know." She smiled widely. They reached the front of the line.

"Hi, can we have two hotdogs and some steak and potato fries?" Zoe asked the server, her hand still holding onto Evan's. She faced Connor. "What do you want, Con?"

"Hotdog and a pepsi," Connor said just loud enough so the cashier could hear him. Zoe handed her the money. They got their food and decided to go to their seats. Larry leaned forward, completely absorbed in the game. Cynthia already had a drink in her hand which was most definitely alcoholic, and was very close to annoying the now happy couple sitting next to her. Connor took the seat next to Larry, hoping he at least would have less of a chance of being associated with his mom this way, and Zoe and Evan took the remaining two seats. Most of the game went on quickly. Nobody was scoring, they just kept getting outs. Connor was getting more invested in the game than he meant to, letting out a groan when they made a bad play or jumping out of his seat a little when someone almost hit a home run. Zoe spent a lot of the time explaining the rules to Evan, who'd never been to a game before. As much as she complained about how she hated baseball, she knew a lot.

Finally, the 9th inning arrived. Evan managed to convince Zoe to only get one bag of cotton candy. Connor wasn't being a complete asshole, while Zoe said was an accomplishment. Finally, the bottom of the ninth arrived, and bases were loaded. Two outs. Larry was so stressed Zoe thought he could scream any second. The pitcher threw the pitch. The batter took the swing. And there it went. Soaring. Soaring. Everyone jumped out of their seats. Larry and Connor were yelling their lungs out. Evan held Zoe's hand and raised it in the air. Going. Going. Gone! The crowd exploded with cheering. Fireworks were set off in the outfield. Zoe put her arms around Evan's neck and he lifted her off the ground a little. Her smile was from ear to ear and she touched her forehead to his.

"Not so bad after all, huh?" Evan said quietly, grinning. Zoe scrunched her nose up and chuckled. She leaned forward to kiss him. Until they were interrupted

"Aww, look at Zozo and her little boyfriend," Connor sneered. Zoe pulled away from Evan.

"Connor I swear to God if you call me that one more damn time I will beat the shit out of you," Zoe hissed, pulling one arm away from Evan's neck, about to smack him.

"Zoe Elizabeth Murphy! Watch your language and be nice to your brother!" Cynthia yelled. Zoe rolled her eyes and turned back to Evan.

"Now where were we?" she murmured, smiling. Evan leaned in for another kiss.


	3. Day Three: Awakening

**A/N: Hi again! This has actually been working out fairly well, surprisingly. I'm posting this chapter a couple hours early because I'm tired and I don't want to wait until tomorrow night. And fair warning, this is ****_quite_**** angsty, as Evan has nightmares about "letting go," and he explains it to Zoe. It's quite a tone shift from the last two, but don't worry, the next one I'll make sure to write extra fluffy. Enjoy the oneshot!**

Day Three: Awakening

_A bad dream wakes up Evan in the middle of the night and Zoe goes to comfort him._

The sun was just barely visible over the horizon. Evan waited at the top, grasping onto a few branches. He felt the sun all over his face. He looked down at his hands. He gripped tighter onto the branches. He took one last look at the sunset. Then he let go. Before he knew it he was falling. Falling. He watched as the branches grew further away from him. He closed his eyes before he hit the ground.

He woke up with a start and covered his face with his hands. He felt his eyes well up with tears but did his best to suppress them. He let out a sob and wiped his tears. Remembering where he was, he sniffled and tried to keep down the noise. He sat on the air mattress in Zoe's room, and according to the little clock on her desk, it was around 3:00am. He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. These nightmares were happening more recently. As much as he tried to push away the memory from that summer, it still would reappear all the time. He took a deep breath, before sitting up, trying to push the thought away. But thinking about not thinking about it only made him think about it more, and now he could see it whenever he closed his eyes.

"You ok, Ev?" Zoe's quiet voice came from her bed, and Evan turned to look. She was sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Uh, yeah, I'm- I'm fine," Evan croaked, wiping the tears from his face again.

"You're crying," she said, a hint of worry in her voice. She pushed the covers of her bed away and stood up. She walked over next to the mattress and sat down next to Evan. He looked down as she put one arm around his shoulder. She wiped away a tear from his cheek. "What happened?"

"Oh, it's nothing, uh- just a uh- bad- bad dream," he said softly fiddling with his fingers. She leaned down to meet his gaze.

"Hey," she took his hands. "Do you want to talk about it?" He shrugged and kept eye contact for a moment before looking down again. "You can tell me anything, I hope you know that."

"I just- I just don't know that you'll still- still see me the same way if I tell you," Evan whispered.

"Nothing could make me love you less, Evan," Zoe said, lifting his chin up with her hand. Evan closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He felt Zoe take his hands.

"Last summer…" he began, his eyes still closed. "You know how I broke my arm- fall- falling out of a tree?" He squinted his eyes open a bit. Zoe nodded. "Well, uh, the truth is… I didn't really fall, I-" As he closed his eyes he got flashbacks to that day. He shook his head a little and kept his eyes open. Focused on Zoe. "I was having a really bad, I mean _really bad _summer. And- while I was uh interning at the park…" He stumbled on his words. He took another deep breath.

"It's ok," Zoe said softly. He gave her a thankful half-smile.

"I did climb a tree, but not for a good reason. Not for a good one at all…" He bit his lip and looked down again. He stayed silent.

"I didn't fall," He broke his silence. "I let go," he barely let out before letting out a sob and hiding his face. He could feel Zoe lean her head on his shoulder and wrap her arms around him. "I'm so sorry Zoe, I'm so sorry," He repeated over and over, his voice muffled.

"No, I'm sorry," she croaked. She sniffled and wiped away her own tears. "I'm sorry you ever felt that way. I'm sorry I didn't know you then. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I-" Evan lifted up his head.

"Zo, it's- it's the past, I-" He tried to slow his breathing a bit. "I'm happy I only broke my arm," he took her hand. "Because if I didn't, I never would have gotten close to you." More tears fell down Zoe's face. Evan wiped them away.

"If- if you ever, _ever_ feel that way again, no matter where we are, no matter how much we talk, please promise me that you will tell me," Zoe said as she took both of his hands. "Promise me."

"I promise," Evan whispered as he pulled her hands closer and kissing them. Zoe smiled through her tears.

"I just don't know what'd I'd do without you." She pulled him closer into a hug. "You're my whole world, Evan," she whispered. He pulled her tighter and ran his hands through her hair. They stayed in silence for a while.

"This air mattress is really uncomfortable," Zoe said quietly. Evan chuckled. She pulled away from the hug and stood up. "Come on." She grabbed Evan's hands and pulled him up from the air mattress. She walked around to her bed and sat down. She patted her hand on the other side. Evan walked around and sat down next to her. She pulled the covers over their legs and Evan rested his head on her shoulder. Zoe rested her head on his. She took his hand and squeezed it tightly. Within moments, Evan's breathing slowed and Zoe could tell he was fast asleep.

"I love you," she whispered. Zoe could have sworn she saw a smile on Evan's face. She smiled back, then closed her eyes as well.


	4. Day Four: Bloom

**A/N: Hi! I'm posting this chapter a little early again because I just don't feel like waiting another half hour until midnight. To make up for all of the angst from the last oneshot, this one is really fluffy. And I mean ****_really_**** fluffy. Also, fair warning, the kissing scenes are kind of awkward because me as a young single pringle has never been kissed before and yeah, you can imagine. So just an apology in advance about that, but anyways, enjoy the story!**

Day Four: Bloom

_Evan and Zoe have a picnic in the orchard, where a bunch of flowers have just bloomed._

The late-afternoon sunshine lit up the field. A gentle breeze blew through the trees and the grass. Only a few clouds stood almost still in the sky. Thousands of tiny wildflowers in all colors bloomed in the field. It was a perfect afternoon in the orchard.

On a patch of grass where there weren't many flowers, Evan had laid out a checkered blanket. Zoe hadn't been having the best day. She got a C on her Math test, didn't get the solo in jazz band, and she and Connor got into another fight. But Evan, who had been waiting for the perfect day for months just told her to hop in his car and off he drove to the orchard. After a quick stop by his house so he could grab the food. They arrived at the orchard and walked until they found the spot Evan had been scouting out. He laid down the blanket and the two of them sat down. Evan opened the basket and pulled out a bag of chocolate chip cookies (Zoe's favorite).

"I baked these at 1am last night because I couldn't sleep," Evan chuckled, scratching the back of his head. Zoe smiled and shook her head as she took a bite of one.

"Well, they're delicious," she said, taking another from the bag. Evan looked into her eyes.

"I just wanted to make you feel better. I've had this idea for a while, after your mom mentioned you coming here as a kid, I was just waiting for the right day." He looked around the field, grinning. "I guess today was a good choice."

"It's beautiful, Evan, thank you," she said, looking around too before making eye contact with Evan again. She broke eye contact again to look in the basket, spotting a box of fruit snacks. Ninja turtle fruit snacks to be exact. She grabbed the box and pulled it close to her.

"I love you." She smiled from ear to ear. Evan laughed out loud. Zoe giddily ripped open the box and dumped the tiny bags of fruit snacks onto her lap.

"I saw them in the store, and I know how much you love them, so-"

He was interrupted by Zoe, who threw one of the fruit snacks at his face and had already eaten 2 packets of the fruit snacks. She giggled as Evan just sat there with his eyes closed, on the verge of laughter. Zoe grabbed another fruit snack from the package.

"Here, try and catch," she said, rearing up her hand to throw. Evan opened his eyes and raised his eyebrows.

"No, no, this is not going to end well, Zo," Evan insisted, raising his hands in front of him.

"Come on, please!" She gave him puppy-dog eyes (Evan's kryptonite), and he rolled his eyes and put his hands on his lap. He opened his mouth wide, and Zoe grinned. She moved her arm back a bit before throwing the fruit snack, which missed his mouth and hit him right on his nose.

"Really?" Evan smiled.

"Come on, one more shot," Zoe said, opening another pack of fruit snacks. Evan chuckled a little before opening his mouth again. She threw the fruit snack again, and after leaning forward a bit, it landed in Evan's mouth. Zoe cheered as she threw her hands in the air and tackled Evan. He squealed a little bit in surprise as he fell backwards.

"Hi," Zoe said quietly from on top of him.

"Hi," Evan replied with a half-smile. She picked up one hand from his chest to boop him on the nose. He leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. She ran her fingers through his hair.

"Thank you for this, Ev," she said softly, looking into his eyes. He put his hand up to her cheek.

"Any time," he grinned before closing the gap between them. Zoe closed her eyes and pulled him closer. He pulled away for a moment. "I'm sorry but someone just walked by and I felt his stare burning through my skull." Zoe exploded into laughter. She leaned back and stood up. She reached her hands out to Evan.

"Dance with me?" She smiled with her puppy-dog eyes again. Evan smiled back and took her hands, standing up. He kept his grip on one of her hands as she led him into the field of flowers, careful not to step on them. Zoe put one of her hands on his shoulder, the other staying gripped on Evan's. He placed his free hand on her waist and the two of them began to sway to music that wasn't there. They looked into each others eyes, still smiling. Zoe started humming the tune to one of her favorite songs. Evan hummed along for a moment, gripping her hand a little tighter and spinning her around. She giggled a bit. Biting her lip, Zoe did the same, this time spinning Evan around, which took some effort due to the height difference. They both chuckled as Zoe moved her arms to around his shoulders. Evan moved his other hand to her waist.

"I love you," she said softly, looking into his eyes. Evan opened his mouth to reply, but no words would come out. Instead he just leaned in and kissed her. She put her hands on the sides of his face and kissed him back. He pulled her closer to him. After a moment she pulled away. Zoe rested her head on his shoulder and he rested his head on hers.

"I love you, too," Evan whispered, planting a kiss on the top of her head. And they just kept swaying in the field of flowers to the music that wasn't playing. They didn't need the music. Just each other.


	5. Day Five: Chirping

**A/N: Here's another chapter! I'm publishing early again because I'm tired and I don't want to go to bed at midnight for once. This oneshot includes the entire DEH kid squad, and is just pure fun mostly. Also, I would like to note that this surprisingly not the first time that I've had to research bird puns for writing. That's completely unrelated to the story, but I want you all to know that. Ah, the life of a journalist. Anywho, hope you like today's writing. Enjoy!**

Day Five: Chirping

_The group visits the local zoo, and have a feathered encounter. _

"Jared, for the last time, the Gorilla's name is Joey, _not_ Harambe," Alana said with a sigh, hand on her forehead.

"You don't know that, Alana," Jared rebutted. Zoe looked to Evan and rolled her eyes.

"Jared, shut your damn mouth and come look at this lizard," Connor shouted from a couple feet away where he was staring at a normal lizard perched on the fence. Jared shuffled over towards Connor with his phone out.

"Why did we invite them again?" Zoe asked Evan, who was holding onto the railing of the fence, looking at the gorillas. He chuckled.

"Because as soon as we mentioned the zoo within earshot of Jared he had to share it with everyone." He walked closer to Zoe and Alana.

"You know he just came to annoy you two," Alana said, crossing her arms. Evan and Zoe looked to each other and smiled. "Also because he loves watching the giraffes." Connor and Jared finally walked back to the group after they were satisfied with the pictures they took of the lizard.

"Happy now?" Zoe asked, putting her hands on her hips. The two of them nodded. Alana pulled out the map from her pocket and unfolded it.

"Alright, so if we keep walking ahead, we'll get to see the reptile house, and through that we can get to the African animals," she explained, pointing out the path on the map. Zoe leaned over Alana's shoulder and nodded.

"Sounds good, let's get going," Zoe said, reaching out her hand to Evan, who took it without hesitation. Alana led the way, map still out, while the rest of them followed behind. Zoe and Evan's arms swung back and forth as they walked hand in hand. Jared raised his eyebrows at the two of them as he passed them to stand next to Alana. Evan opened his mouth to say something, but kept quiet. They kept walking until they reached a pavillion.

"Oh! We should go feed the lorikeets! I used to love doing that when I was little," Alana exclaimed, pointing to the sign. The others all turned to face each other. Everyone but Connor nodded. They all stared him down. He rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Fine, but if I get mauled by birds I'm blaming you guys." Connor walked towards the desk in front of the gate. They all chipped in 2 dollars to buy the cups of nectar and walked into the aviary. As soon as they entered, the chirping of the birds became ten times louder and at least 10 birds starting flying above their heads. Zoe walked over to the fence that separated the walking area and the rest of the habitat where a couple birds sat. She held out her hand with the cup of nectar. One of the birds hopped onto her arm and starting drinking from the cup. She exclaimed a little.

"I got one!" She called over to the rest of the group, careful not to disturb the little bird. She turned around to see Alana with three birds on her arm, Jared with one, and Connor desperately trying to get a bird to come to him. Evan had one little bird on his arm and was watching it in awe. Zoe smiled and walked over to him. She put her arm up next to his, and her bird hopped over to Evan.

"Oh! Now he's got a friend," Evan said softly, smiling. Zoe smiled at Evan and his two birds until she felt something flying over her head. She squealed a little as she looked up to see a little colorful bird perched on her hair.

"Evan!" she squeaked, standing as still as she possibly could. Evan bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. With his bird-free hand he pulled out his phone and took a picture of Zoe and the bird. The bird started chirping louder. Suddenly, one of Evan's birds flapped its wings and flew up to join the other bird on Zoe's head.

"You're the bird whisperer, Zo!" Evan exclaimed with a laugh. Zoe laughed nervously.

"Apparently they like me." Zoe shrugged, peeking up at the birds every now and then to make sure they weren't misbehaving.

"Of course they do, who doesn't like you?" Evan said with a wink. Zoe blushed a little.

"Ah, shit!" Jared yelled from across the aviary. The birds on Zoe's head got startled and flew away. Zoe turned as she heard Alana and Connor practically dying of laughter. "The damn bird just crapped on me!" Jared had a disgusted look on his face as he shook his arm.

"You deserve it, dumbass," Connor sputtered out through his laughter. Evan grinned and turned to Zoe, holding back his laughter.

"Oh, I'm never letting him live this down," he said quietly to Zoe before walking over to the rest of the group.

"Problems, Jared?" Evan asked, still grinning from ear to ear.

"Shut your mouth, Hansen, I don't have time for your sass." Jared frowned and took a few steps away from them before turning around. "I'm done with birds for now. I'll see you assholes when you're done." With that, he turned back around and walked out of the aviary. As soon as he was out of earshot, they all exploded into laughter again.

"Well, I think we've had enough time with the birds. Let's not leave Jared sulking by himself for too long," Alana said as she threw the nectar cup away and walked out of the aviary, followed by Connor. Evan and Zoe remained for a moment. Evan looked down at the ground for a moment before looking up at Zoe and giving her a cheeky smile.

"Well, I guess you can say that ruffled his feathers." Zoe sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, that pun was pretty _fowl_," Evan chuckled leaning closer to Zoe.

"You're such a dork," Zoe said, looking up at him.

"And you're pretty _tweet_." Evan half-smiled. Zoe leaned forward and kissed him. After a moment of shock he started kissing her back. Zoe pulled away and smirked.

"That was to make you stop with the bird puns," she said, pointing at Evan, then turned away and walked out of the aviary.

"Well that was egg-citing," Evan said to himself before following Zoe.


	6. Day Six: Daisy

**A/N: Hey you guys. I'm so sorry for this being so late, but I was just so uninspired by the prompt and it was just rough. So the story ****_sort of_**** relates to the prompt, but yeah. It was bad. In this, I'm going with what the book says that Connor is attracted to both genders, because it's never stated in the musical, due to the fact that we only see a couple scenes of the real Connor. And also because I needed a reason to include the prompt. This is also an AU where obviously, Connor is alive, but he attempted to take his life, but instead was in a coma. Evan lied about being friends with him like in the musical, but eventually the truth came out, but Zoe still forgave him and they stayed together. This is a really long author's note, I'm sorry. But it was really fun to write Zoe just being an annoying little sister to Connor, because I have experience with that. Anyway, enjoy yesterday's story!**

Day Six: Daisy

_When a new girl shows up and shows a liking for Connor, he turns to Evan and Zoe for advice on how to handle his emotions._

He'd never asked for advice from her before. He'd hardly even talked to her about his feelings at all. She wasn't even sure he had feelings. But there he stood, in her bedroom, asking her.

"Hey, can we talk?" he leaned into her doorway. She sat on her bed, guitar on her lap, while Evan leaned back in her office chair, spinning back and forth a little. She looked up, a little surprised.

"Uh, sure, I guess. What's up?" He walked into her room and side-eyed at Evan. Zoe frowned.

"He's staying in here, Con. You just have to deal." Evan raised his eyebrows.

"You sure? I can- I can go if you need me to, I real-"

"Stay right there, Hansen, otherwise I'll make you," Zoe said, shooting him a flirtatious look.

"Ew," Connor said as Zoe turned her head to glare at him. He walked over to the foot of her bed and sat down. She took off the strap of her guitar and set in on the ground next to her bed. Connor sighed and scratched the back of his head. "So, here's the thing. There's this girl." Zoe raised her eyebrows for a moment and looked over to Evan. "It all started last Thursday at lunch. I'd seen her walking around school, but I never really talked to her. She transferred from out of state at the beginning of the semester, apparently. Anyway, one day she just decided to walk up and sit in my alleyway."

"You mean the creepy alleyway behind that gym that even spiders are afraid to go in because of the monster that resides in it?" Zoe smirked.

"Shut up." He pointed at her. "So she just sat down and started reading. Didn't say a word."

"And you didn't ask her what she was doing in your swamp?" Zoe scrunched up her nose as she grinned. Connor picked up a pillow next to him and threw it at her face, but she caught it.

"Asshole." Evan chuckled a little to himself, and Connor grabbed another pillow and aimed it at Evan, who threw his hands up in defense.

"Don't you dare, Connor." Connor frowned and lowered the pillow.

"As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted," he said, glaring at Zoe. "She didn't say anything to me. Then, the next day, she came back. But then she started talking to me."

"What'd she say?" Evan said, scooting the office chair closer.

"Well, she asked me what my name is. Her name is Daisy." Zoe looked over to Evan and raised an eyebrow. Connor rolled his eyes. "Then we started talking about how shitty the people at our school are, and I asked about the book she was reading, and it was kind of a normal conversation."

"Wow, I know how rare those are for you," Zoe snickered.

"Zoe, I swear to God." Connor picked up the pillow next to him again and Zoe raised her hands to protect herself.

"So is that it? You guys had a conversation?" Zoe crossed her arms.

"No, well. She started coming to the alley every day, and we'd talk. About life and stuff. Until yesterday," Connor said, picking at the black nail polish on his fingers. "She told me she liked me." Zoe gaped her mouth open.

"W- what'd you say?" Zoe asked, leaning forward a bit.

"I- I completely freaked out and I didn't know what to say so I just- I walked away." Zoe cringed.

"Well, do you like her too?" She asked.

"I- I don't know. I- She's a nice person, but I just- I don't know how to feel." Connor sighed. "Don't- don't sass me right now, I just- I just want advice, ok?" Zoe smiled a little. Evan cleared his throat.

"Well, if Zoe and I are proof for anything, sometimes, you just gotta be upfront about your feelings," he said, turned to look at Zoe with a half smile.

"You mean I should kiss her on her comatose brother's bed?" Connor asked with a smirk. Evan turned a bright red.

"I- okay well- not exactly- I just-" he stuttered. "I just- I was overcome with- with emotions and I didn't even mean to kiss her okay? I'm sorry." Evan folded his arms and looked down.

"Hey," Zoe said softly. He looked up to her. "I'm glad you did." He smiled a little.

"What- what I mean, Connor." He glanced over to him. "You just gotta go for it, tell her how you feel." Evan shrugged.

"Problem is, I don't know how I feel." Connor frowned and looked down.

"Well, is she attractive?" Zoe asked, gesturing with her hands.

"I guess, yeah," he said quietly.

"Do you consider her a friend?" She turned her head a little.

"Well, yeah, probably. I mean, we've only known each other a couple days, but yeah."

"Would you want to be in a relationship with her?" Connor looked down. He didn't say anything for a beat. He sighed.

"Yeah," he said with an exhale. "Yeah, I guess I would."

"Then tell her!" Evan and Zoe said in unison as they turned to each other, smiling.

"But-" Connor looked up. "What if she doesn't want to be around me anymore after I was an asshole to her yesterday?"

"Then apologize! Communication is the most important thing in relationships." Zoe threw her arms up in the air.

"Are you sure?" Connor asked, raising an eyebrow. Evan nodded.

"Yeah, a good apology usually goes a long way. Just be honest. Lying won't get you anywhere." he said, frowning to himself.

"I've told you I forgive you a thousand times, Ev. It's ok." Zoe reached out her hand to Evan, who took it for a moment. Connor looked down for a while before nodding to himself.

"Ok, I guess I'll- I guess I'll just tell her then." He stood up and started walking towards the door.

"Go get her," Zoe called out to him. Connor just rolled his eyes. He stood in the doorway before turning around to face the couple.

"Thanks, guys." He gave them a half smile before turning back around and walking out the door. Zoe smiled before holding her hand out to Evan for a high five. He high fived her back.

"Good job. I think we just got my brother a date," Zoe said calmly before turning to Evan and exploding into laughter.


	7. Day Seven: Diamond

**A/N: Hello again! I'm actually on time again for once! Yay! This one shot is a little shorter, and it's kind of sappy, but hopefully y'all won't mind. Also, catch some of the references to Ben Platt's songs in Evan's little speech. It's all I've been listening to recently. Anyway, I hate to be ****_that person_**** but I'd really love if you guys could drop a review for me! I love hearing how much y'all like (or don't like) my writing. Keeps me getting better. Enjoy the story!**

Day Seven: Diamond

_Evan asks Zoe to prom and makes a promise to her. _

He held the tiny box, turning it over and over in his hands. There were lights illuminating the path to the tree house, and strung up the tree. Sitting above the ladder of her tree house, he swung his feet back and forth, waiting for her. Through the window of her house, he could see her and her mom talking inside. She pointed her to the door and with a confused look she began walking. He sat upright and tried to slow his breathing as she walked through the door. She glanced down the path as she started walking. She smiled as she met his eyes.

"Ev, what is all this?" She chuckled as she looked around. He grinned at her as he carefully hopped down from the tree house and began walking closer. He could see Zoe's mom filming the two of them with her camera through the window, but he tried his best to ignore her. He met her in the middle of the path, put the box in his pocket, and took her hands.

"Well, I was thinking, and I just- it's coming up and I just-" he fumbled over his words before reaching into his pocket and grabbing the box. "I love you, Zoe. I've never felt like this about anyone else before. And I was wondering if you'd take this." He opened the small box and Zoe put her hands over her mouth. In the box was a small ring. It was rather simple, nothing too extravagant. Just a silver band with a small diamond stud in the middle.

"What?" she whispered, her eyebrows raised.

"It's a promise ring. A promise that I won't stop loving you. That no matter how dark things get, no matter how much my- my anxiety takes over, I- I will never leave you." He looked down at Zoe, who started to tear up. He put his hand up against her face. "You're the only one who really can see me, the only one who really knows me, the only one who I can trust in this messed up world. The only one who can ease my mind when it's running at a million miles per hour. I don't need anyone else. I just need you. Just you and me, nothing else." Tears started streaming down Zoe's face and he wiped them away. "I know I'm not perfect. I know you aren't either. We both are changing, but I believe we should change together." He got down onto one knee, his hands shaking a little. "So do you promise you'll grow along with me?" Zoe put her hand up to his face.

"I love you, Evan. And I will stay with you, no matter what," she said softly as he took her hand and slid the ring on her finger. She looked down at it for a moment before cupping his face in her hands and pulling him in for a kiss. He stood back up, holding onto her waist and pulling her closer. After a moment he pulled away, but rested his forehead against hers.

"Ah shit, I almost forgot," he said under his breath, as he pushed away from her a little, holding her hands in his again. "The uh- the ring isn't the only thing I wanted to ask about." She arched her eyebrow and he smiled. "Follow me," he said, signalling with his head to the tree house behind them. He held onto one of her hands as he lead her, climbing up the ladder first before helping her up. The inside of the tree house was illuminated by lights, and up on the wall they converged to spell one word: prom? Zoe gasped as she stood up and looked at the lights. Evan put his arm around her waist and grinned. Zoe, unable to speak any words, just nodded before turning back to Evan and kissing him again. She put her arms around his shoulders and began to sway back and forth. She pulled away and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I love you, Ev," she whispered. He kissed her on her forehead.

"I love you too, Zo. And I won't ever stop."


	8. Day Eight: Fair

**A/N: Sorry I'm late with this again, I got distracted and just lowkey uninspired. This isn't as great as I would want it to be, I had a lot of ideas and just wasn't able to execute them all. Anyway, hope you enjoy. And drop me a review if you can! I'd really appreciate it!**

Day Eight: Fair

_Evan and Zoe spend the day at the local fair._

"You sure you're up for this?" Zoe asked Evan as they approached the front of the line. Evan did his best to keep a straight face, but his hands still quivered.

"I uh- I think so," he said quietly, glancing up at the monster of a ride above them. It was like a giant robotic arm that stretched up at least 50 feet. The bright blue and green ride swung the people onboard with a sweeping motion as a chorus of screams flew by. He winced as he continued watching it spin around. Zoe took his hand.

"It's ok, I'll be right next to you the whole time," she said with a smile. Evan nodded as he turned to look back at the ride. Zoe was a complete daredevil, ready to get on any ride. The bigger and scarier the better. Evan on the other hand… not so much. But Zoe really wanted to go on this one, and there was no way he was letting her go alone. But sooner than he wanted, it was Evan and Zoe's turn to get on. They walked through the gate hand in hand and walked up to the seats. Evan sat down and pulled the bar over his head. He turned his head to look at Zoe, who had a giddy grin on her face. The ride started to move and Evan immediately shot his arm out to Zoe, who gladly took his hand. As the ride gradually began to rise in height, Evan squeezed Zoe's hand tighter. As it continued rotating slowly, it finally stopped completely upside down.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," Evan repeated to himself, squeezing his eyes shut. With a sudden start, the arm leaned backwards a bit before catapulting forward. Evan screamed like no tomorrow. Zoe flip flopped between cheering and laughing at Evan's screaming. The ride spun around only a few times before finally coming to a stop. Evan sat in stunned silence as Zoe hopped out of the seat.

"That was awesome!" Zoe exclaimed, walking over to stand in front of Evan, who still didn't say anything. She took his hands and helped pull him out of the seat. "You okay?" He only managed to nod a little as they walked away. After a churro (and a kiss from Zoe), Evan was mostly back to normal. They walked hand in hand down the pathway.

"Evan! Look!" Zoe exclaimed as she pointed at one of the booths. Hanging from the top of the tent was a giant stuffed sloth (Zoe's favorite animal). "We have to try and win it!" Zoe turned to Evan and gave him her biggest puppy dog eyes. Evan, unable to resist, nodded and lead her to the booth. The game seemed simple enough. All he had to do was toss the rings onto the neck of the plastic giraffe and the sloth was Zoe's. Only problem was his hands were shaking like an earthquake. He handed the clerk two dollars and held the three rings in his hands. Zoe noticed his quivering hands and put hers up against his to guide his throw. "Let's do this together."

One throw. It made it around the giraffe! Another. It spun around a bit at the top, but made it on. Only one more. The final throw veered off to the side a bit, but hit the backboard and landed around the neck of the giraffe. Zoe cheered, jumping up and down. She threw her arms around Evan's shoulders, who grabbed her waist and spun her around. The clerk handed them the giant sloth, and Zoe hugged it so tightly Evan thought it might explode. He grinned and put his arm around her waist as they continued to walk.

After a ride on a _really_ low quality haunted mansion, a bag of cotton candy, and getting lost in a mirror house, the sun was just beginning to set. The two of them decided it was finally time to ride the ferris wheel. A short wait in line later, they got onto the carriage. Evan sat down next to Zoe, holding onto her hand as the ride began to spin. She rested her head on his shoulder, looking out. Zoe lifted her head for a moment to look up at Evan.

"Great view, huh?" She asked with a grin. Evan's gaze remained on Zoe.

"Yeah, the best," he replied with a half-smile, pushing a bit of Zoe's hair behind her ear. Zoe blushed a little before taking his hand. As the ferris wheel stopped at the very top, Evan leaned in for a kiss. Zoe closed her eyes and pulled him closer. The ferris wheel jerked forward unexpectedly, causing Zoe to fall right on top of Evan. She pulled away and exploded in laughter. She leaned her head over the side a bit.

"Give us a bit of warning next time, why don't you?" She called out to the operators, who probably couldn't hear her. Evan chuckled as Zoe leaned back to look at him. "Some people, huh?" She joked, grinning back at him.

"You're hilarious." Evan kissed Zoe on the cheek. She tilted her head and winked at him.

"I know."


	9. Day Nine: Green

**A/N: So sorry this is late again. I've been struggling with writing, but I promise to do better. I'll try to upload another tonight. This one is kind of short, but I don't hate it (high praise from myself). Hope you enjoy!**

Day Nine: Green

_Evan's favorite color is green. For several reasons._

Evan always loved the color green. Ever since he was little and saw the big green truck his dad bought. After that, he had his room painted green, which eventually was repainted to a grey as he grew up. The green on the walls was replaced by the many potted plants on his shelves. Evan loved plants. Especially trees. And trees were green. All in all, most everything he loved was green.

He sat in the passenger seat of Zoe's car, the windows rolled down. It was about 2:30 in the morning. Zoe had called Evan, telling him she was coming over. Connor had come home high and was yelling at her parents. Rather than wait for him to go banging on her door, screaming, she climbed out her window and drove to Evan's house.

Evan wasn't quite sure where they were driving to; he could hardly see anything beyond the headlights. He looked over to Zoe, who unlike her usual driving position, was stiffened up. He considered holding her hand for a moment, but decided against it, considering she was driving and he really didn't want to distract her. So he just gave her a reassuring look, hoping she saw him out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes.

Even in the darkness, the pale green was evident. It was the kind of green you see right after the snow melts. There was a ring of brown amidst the green. The new life sprouting from all the cold. A beautiful life sprouting from chaos. But still the green stood out the most. And Evan loved that green.

He must have lost track of time because before he knew it, Zoe had parked and was looking back at him. Evan blushed and looked away for a moment.

"What?" Zoe asked quietly with a hint of a smile. Evan looked down as he fussed with the hem of his shirt. He shrugged a little.

"I was just- admiring your eyes," he said softly, looking up to her for a moment before looking down again. Zoe grinned, rolling her eyes. Evan stole another glance before looking down yet again.

"Where are we anyway?" he asked, looking around. She smirked, unbuckling her seat belt and grabbing onto the door handle.

"Come and see, why don't you?" She opened the door and slid out. Evan did the same and stepped outside. They were on a hill somewhere, with a clear view of the moon and the stars. He turned around to see Zoe sitting on the roof of her car.

"How's the weather up there?" He chuckled, crossing his arms. She tilted her head and smiled.

"A little chilly, could use some company." She scrunched up her nose as she grinned at him. Evan quickly hopped up beside her. She grabbed hold of his arm and scooted closer to him. He turned his head to look at her again. In the moonlight her eyes took on a brighter glow and he could see the stars reflected against the green. She turned her head to meet his gaze. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he looked away. She moved his head back to face her with her hand. He leaned his forehead forward to touch hers.

"I love you," he whispered. She placed her hands on his face and pulled him in closer for a kiss. It only lasted for a moment before they pulled away, still remaining within inches of each other. Neither of them said anything. Just stared into each other's eyes. Zoe noticed something in Evan's brown eyes. They weren't entirely brown. A small ring of green mixed in. Zoe half-smiled to herself.

"I love you more," she said, breaking the silence, before leaning back in for another kiss.


	10. Day Ten: Hatch

**A/N: Hey! I actually managed to write two one shots in one night. This was really rushed, as I only spent about 30 minutes writing it, and I didn't edit it, but I want to sleep so it's probably really shitty. But anyway, here it is. I'm all caught up again. Enjoy!**

Day Ten: Hatch

_Evan calls Zoe over because there's a bird's nest at his house and the eggs are hatching._

"Hey, Zo? Can you come over?" Evan spoke into his phone, barely able to contain his excitement.

"Yeah, sure. Why? Is something wrong?" Zoe replied, a hint of concern in her voice. Evan smiled widely. He paced around his backyard.

"No, quite the contrary. You'll see when you get here. It's a surprise!" He exclaimed. There was silence from his phone.

"Please tell me you didn't find a lost puppy again because we both know how that ended last time," Zoe said monotonously. Evan rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"I promise you it's a good surprise, just get here quickly!" He heard a sigh come from his phone.

"Alright, I'll be there in like 10 minutes. If you're holding a puppy when I get there though-"

"I won't, Zoe," he said, smirking. "Love you!"

"Love you too," she replied. "I'll see you in a bit." He heard the beep of the phone as she hung up. He put his phone in his pocket and sat on the steps of his porch.

Only minutes later, Zoe arrived. She closed the door and walked up to Evan. She threw her hands up in the air.

"So? What's the big surprise?" She asked. Evan stood up and grinned. He walked over to the side gate, unlatched it, then signalled for Zoe to walk though.

"Right through here," he said as she warily walked up, squinting her eyes at him as she walked through the gate. She glanced around the side yard as Evan walked through and closed the gate behind them. She furrowed her brow.

"What are you showing me?" She asked, putting her hand on her hips. Evan walked up next to her and pointed up towards the roof. She squinted her eyes to try and see better. "All I see is a pile of twigs by the roof." She turned to Evan, who stepped aside, grabbing her hand and pulling her over so she was standing where he was. From this view she could clearly make out a bird's nest. And peeking just barely over the edge she could see a bit of fluff. She gasped a little. "Are those baby birds?"

"Yeah! They're just hatching now!" Evan exclaimed. Zoe put her hands over her mouth. He heard her mumble something that sounded like, "They're so cute." She moved her hands down.

"How many of them are there?" She asked, turning towards him, but still looking up at the nest.

"I counted 4 eggs, but I think just the one has hatched," he explained, folding his arms.

"Can we get a closer look?" She asked, clapping her hands a little, careful not to scare the baby birds. Evan nodded and walked over to where he rested a ladder up against the house. Zoe giddily walked up to the ladder and started climbing. Evan held his hands out to her in case she fell. She peeked over the edge of the nest and saw one broken egg shell with 3 whole ones next to it. The one already hatched was squawking as loud as it could. "It's so cute!" She whispered, turning around to face him. A cracking noise alerted her attention.

Popping out of one of the other three eggs was a tiny beak. Zoe watched intently as the tiny bird pecked and pecked at its egg before finally breaking through.

"Another one just hatched!" She announced with a whisper, staying completely still as she watched. The little birds started tweeting at each other loudly. She watched for another moment before climbing down the ladder. "Have you given them names yet?"

"Well," Evan smirked. "We did agree that one of them should be named after me, since you had the bunny with your name." Zoe rolled her eyes.

"Fine, one can be Evan Jr." She chuckled. "I say we name them after our friends. The most annoying one can be Jared Jr."

"The smartest one should be Alana Jr., obviously," Evan said, looking up at the nest, the baby birds a bit easier to see now.

"Then whichever one seems like the biggest asshole will be Connor Jr." Zoe crossed her arms and watched as yet another one of the birds emerged from the egg. The two born earlier still were engaged in a chirp-off. "Those two are definitely Connor and Jared." Evan laughed. Only moments later, the last egg finally hatched, and all four of the birds were shrieking for their mother.

"Hopefully the mama bird comes soon, because I don't want to have to go looking for animals again," Zoe smirked. Evan glanced around.

"Nope, there she is." He pointed to a nearby tree, where a bird was swooping down towards the nest. It landed, and the babies let out a chorus of happy twittering. Zoe chuckled to herself before resting her head on Evan's shoulder.

"This was a good surprise, Evan. Thank you," she said softly. Evan kissed her on the top of her head before leaning his head on hers.


	11. Day Eleven: Kites

**A/N: Hey, sorry this is late. I had a long night tonight and didn't start this until late. But it's extra long, so hopefully that'll make up for it. This one is just pure fun. Not much of a plotline. Hope y'all enjoy!**

Day Eleven: Kites

_The group goes to the park and decides to fly kites._

"My kite is gonna kick your kites' asses!" Jared called as he ran to the other side of the field, clutching his kite. It was a rather windy day, so Alana thought it would be fun to decorate kites and fly them. It took a bit of convincing for Connor, but eventually they got him to join in.

"It's not even a race, Jared," Alana yelled back, cupping her hands around her mouth. The kite she held in her arms had an intricate pattern of blues and teals and greens that she spent about an hour on. Connor refused to do anything more than all black. Evan had no hesitation in choosing what to draw on his kite; he obviously would be painting a tree, and he decided on a big green oak (his favorite) with a blue background. Zoe had painted an extravagant galaxy-esque scene onto hers, in colors of pinks, purples, and blues, with stars drawn out in white. Jared, on the other hand had sloppily painted a stick figure of himself with the words "The Insanely Cool Jared Kite-man" above it. The group walked to the opposite side of the field where Jared waited.

"I'm racing you anyway, and I'm going to win!" Jared said, holding the kite in one hand and the spool of string in the other, ready to run whenever the time came.

"Fat chance," Zoe said with a grin, pulling the string away from the kite.

"Yeah, like we'd ever let you win," Connor chuckled. Jared shot him a look before the two of them started cursing at each other.

"Shut the hell up!" Zoe finally exclaimed with annoyance. "You two just zip it and let us have fun, okay?" She put her hands on her hips and Jared and Connor looked back at her with a hint of disappointment. "Now, come on, let's set these bad boys free." She held the kite up with one hand, the other firmly clutched on the string. She started to walk as a breeze swooped up the kite into the air. Loosening the string a little, she let the kite fly higher up. After a moment, Alana's kite joined Zoe's in the sky. Zoe turned around to see Jared sprinting at his full speed, his kite dragging behind him, barely keeping off the ground. Connor lagged behind him for a moment before he picked up his speed and passed by Jared. She shook her head and watched her kite float in the air.

"Damn it!" She heard Evan exclaim as his kite slowly fell to the ground. Zoe walked over to Evan, careful to keep her kite up in the sky.

"Problems?" She asked with a grin. Evan leaned his head to the side to give Zoe and exasperated look. She chuckled a little. "Want some help?" With a defeated sigh, he nodded. She kept one hand held on her own string, and used the other to point out to Evan. "Hold it up by the cross with your back to the wind, then slowly release the string," she said, as Evan looked at her intently, doing his best to follow her instructions. He was struggling with holding the kite up. She rolled her eyes and set the string on the ground, stepping her foot on top of it to hold it in place. She placed one hand on his shoulder and the other over his hand that held the kite. She repositioned him by moving his shoulder up a little higher. With that, the wind started to pick up the kite.

"Good, now let go of some of the string, slowly," she instructed, keeping her hand on his shoulder. The kite gradually started to gain altitude. Evan looked over to Zoe, who remained by his side.

"Hi," he said softly with a half-smile. She smiled back.

"Hi." They shared eye contact for a moment. Zoe felt something slip out from underneath her. She turned her head to see her kite start to fly away.

"Shit!" She exclaimed, chasing after it. After quite a bit of running, she finally caught up with her kite, which had lodged itself in a nearby tree. Zoe tried jumping to grab the string, but with no luck. She turned around, crossing her arms. "Evan!" She yelled across the field. Evan turned his head away from his own kite to look at Zoe before walking over to Zoe and her tree dilemma, his kite still following behind. He looked up at the kite in the tree and bit his lip.

"Problems?" He said with a sheepish grin. Zoe hit him lightly on the shoulder. He tapped her on the head. "Here, hold this, short stuff." He handed her the string to his kite. Zoe mock pouted, grabbing the spool from him. Evan, although he was about a foot taller than Zoe, still had to jump a bit to grasp at the string of her kite. He tried his best to pull it out of the tree without damaging it, but a twig had already put a hole through it. With one strong tug, it fell out of the tree and fell flat on the ground. Evan bent down to grab it, frowning a bit and walking it over to Zoe. "Sorry." She swapped Evan's spool of string for her own kite. She ran her fingers over the hole.

"Hey lovebirds!" The two of them turned around to see Jared yelling at them.

"Jared, I swear I'm going to kill you if you-" Evan started with a sigh.

"If you're not too busy making out, we're gonna race," Jared interrupted with an excited laugh.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't convince him to not race," Alana called back, shrugging. Zoe looked down at her kite again, before looking up at Evan.

"Team?" She suggested with a smirk. He grinned back and nodded, winding up the string of his kite and pulling it closer to him. He stuck the kite under his arm and took Zoe's hand. The two of them walked over to the rest of the group, who were getting their kites ready. Zoe raised her kite up to show the rest. "My kite died, so I'm teaming with Evan," she explained. Jared scoffed.

"Unfair. We should all get a head start then. At least I should." Zoe rolled her eyes.

"You can deal, Jared. Unless you think you can't win without a head start," Zoe said with a mischievous look. Jared opened his mouth to protest, but closed it with a frown.

"Touche, Murphy, Touche." He pointed to Zoe before preparing his kite. "Well, you two better get ready then. We're starting in 60 seconds. Whoever gets to those two trees first wins. Last one there has to buy me ice cream."

"What if you lose?" Connor asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Me. No matter what I'm getting ice cream, I just want someone else to pay for it," he responded. "Now shut up, I'm getting in the zone." Zoe set down her broken kite and raised Evan's into the air, while he held the spool of string. Alana looked down at her watch.

"3… 2… 1…" She counted down, before sprinting forward. Zoe let go of the kite as Evan ran, and it flew straight up into the air. Zoe jogged along with the others. Connor and Alana were tied for first, with Jared a bit behind. Evan was lagging behind.

"Run faster, slowpoke!" She shouted at Evan with a chuckle. With that, Evan started sprinting, and somehow kept his kite up in the air. He passed Jared, and almost caught up with Connor and Alana. Zoe stood and watched as Alana just barely beat out Connor to the trees, followed by Evan, and with Jared taking up last place. "Hey!" she shouted to Evan. "You didn't lose!" Evan panted and gave her a thumbs up. She jogged over to the others catching their breath.

"Shit!" Jared said between breaths. "Shit! Hansen, you couldn't have slowed down for like 5 seconds?" Evan shrugged. "Damn it now I have to buy myself ice cream."

"Can you buy the rest of us ice cream too?" Alana asked with a smile.

"Nuh-uh. That wasn't part of the deal," Jared retorted. "Don't try and make up rules, Lana." Evan turned to Zoe, still panting.

"How'd I do?" he asked with a grin. Zoe tilted her head from side to side.

"Eh, could have been better," she teased, taking his hands. Evan shrugged.

"I'll try better next time then," he said, kissing Zoe on the cheek.


	12. Day Twelve: Lush

**A/N: Hi, I'm so sorry this is late again, this damn prompt was so uninspiring and I had a really long day yesterday and just ahh so much going on. But now I'm finally on spring break so yay! I can stay up later and not feel like complete crap the next morning. Anyway, this story barely relates to the prompt but I could care less at this point. I'll try my best to catch up tonight, but if I can't expect a flood of one-shots coming in the next couple of days.**

Day Twelve: Lush

_Evan shows Zoe the plants he's been growing_

"You've got a lot of plants," Zoe said, sitting with her legs crossed on the end of Evan's bed. Evan handed her the bottle of water, then walked over to his windowsill. Sitting on the edge of it were 5 different pots, all with different plants.

"Yeah, I've gotten some from the store, but most of them my mom gave to me as a gift." He picked up the cup of water sitting next to them and poured some on each plant. Evan smiled as he looked down at his greenery.

"Tell me about them," Zoe said softly, looking over to Evan with a grin. She loved when he talked about plants. She didn't _really_ understand that much about all the different species, but oh how cute he looked when he got excited about them. Evan raised his eyebrows at her a bit, unsure if she really, actually wanted him to talk about his plants. Zoe nodded her head and Evan started wringing his hands.

"Well, uh, these three are all succulents. They store water in their leaves and come in so many different varieties.." He motioned to the three plants on the right. "This one, uh this one's a fern, and ferns are really cool because they don't have seeds, they spread by spores," he said, tapping the side of the fern's pot. He turned back to Zoe. "And depending on the species, some ferns can live to be, like, 100 years old."

"Wow, that's really cool," Zoe said.

"I know right!" Evan exclaimed, his voice going a lot higher than usual. "I mean." He blushed a little, lowering his voice. "I know right…" Zoe chuckled. Evan scratched the back of his head. He pointed to the last plant on the windowsill. "This one, uh, this one's my favorite. It's a bonsai tree. They're a japanese art form which is basically a normal tree, but they're kept in a smaller pot and cut back to be smaller. It requires quite a bit of maintenance, but they're just so cool." He stopped and smiled at the plants. He turned a little red and looked to the floor. "Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble, I'm probably really annoying."

"Hey," Zoe said softly, standing up from his bed. She walked over to him by the window and took his hand. "I love hearing you talk about what you love." He looked over to her with an unsure look.

"You don't find it annoying? I mean, I try talking to Jared about it, and he says it is, and Alana doesn't outright say it, but I can tell she doesn't really care." Evan looked down again.

"Jared's an asshole, and Alana probably is too busy thinking about studying or something." Evan chuckled. "You get so excited when you talk about plants and even though I don't really understand them, I get excited too." Evan took her other hand and smiled. "Plus you look really cute when you get so excited and start talking really fast." Evan blushed a bright red and turned his head away. "Don't ever let people keep you from what you love, Ev."

"Thank you, Zoe," he replied softly, kissing her on the forehead. He pulled her in close for a hug. "Do you want to hear about the plants in the living room next?" Zoe laughed, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Whatever you want, Plant Boy. Whatever you want."


	13. Day Thirteen: New

**A/N: Sorry this is late again. I promise to get caught up tomorrow. Anyway, I got a little carried away with this one and I wrote a lot. Like 1800 words. So hooray! That's why I'm posting this at almost 2:00am. Yayyy. Anyway, enjoy.**

Day 13: New

_Evan's new to the whole dating thing, and his doing his best to not let Zoe know that._

"I'll see you at six then," Zoe said with a smile, pulling her backpack over her shoulder. Evan's mouth gaped open as she turned and walked away. _Holy shit._ He turned around too, still in shock. _Holy shit!_ He walked down the hall of the school to his next class. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jared approach him.

"Hey, Hansen. What's with the face? You look like one of those old cartoons where their jaw drops to the floor." Jared chuckled to himself. Evan just looked at Jared, still unable to say any words. "You having a stroke or something? You look like you're about to pass out."

"I- I just asked Zoe Murphy on a date," Evan said, not really believing the words coming out of his mouth. Jared raised his eyebrows.

"What the hell? She said no obviously. After you kissed her on her almost dead brother's bed." Jared crossed his arms. Evan shook his head.

"First of all, that- that was one time! And she forgave me for that!" Evan pointed to Jared, who gave him an unbelieving look. "And she said yes. We're going to the movies. At six o'clock."

"Holy shit," Jared said, a little impressed, though he'd never admit it.

"I know!" Evan said, his voice cracking. "What am I going to do? I've never been on a date before!" Evan could feel his hands start to get sweaty. _Shit._ He wiped them on his pants. _This better not happen while I'm with Zoe. But it obviously will because you'll be worrying about it so much. This is going to go so wrong. Shit. Shit. Shit._

"Woah, woah, woah. Calm down there. No need to start hyperventilating." Jared raised his hands up to Evan, who's face remained in a slightly still shocked, very nervous look.

"I'm not hyperventilating," Evan defended himself. Jared rolled his eyes.

"Lucky for you, you've got the insanely cool Jared Kleinman: dating connoisseur by your side to help you." Jared threw an arm around Evan's shoulder, the other pointed outwards as he talked. "You see, what you've got to do is when you get to the theater, you've got to worry about your really sweaty hands, then when she asks you a question you go 'Uh- um- well- uh-um-'" Evan ducked under Jared's arm and stepped away.

"Jared! This is serious!" Evan frowned, crossing his arms.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Alana asked, walking over to the two boys. Evan nodded his head up to greet her.

"Evan's having an existential crisis." Jared smirked. Evan groaned.

"Jared, I am not!" Alana raised her eyebrows. Evan sighed, placing a hand on his forehead. "I'm- I'm going on a date with Zoe tonight and I- I have no idea what to do."

"Aw! I always thought you two would be cute together!" Alana clapped her hands together. Jared scoffed. "What are you two doing?"

"Movies," Evan replied. Alana put her hands on her hips and thought for a moment.

"Okay, so don't be too forward. Make sure she's comfortable if you decide to do the hand-holding thing. Make sure to compliment her on how she looks. And just do your best to stay calm."

"Someone's got experience," Jared quipped.

"I watch a lot of rom-coms." Alana grinned, turning to Jared. Jared chuckled.

"Thank you guys," Evan said with a deep breath.

"Text me if she dumps you before you even get to the movie," Jared said, smirking. Alana hit him on the shoulder. "Ow! I was kidding!"

Evan stood in front of his mirror taking deep breaths. _You've got this. You look great. Your hands are _not _sweaty._ He straightened out his green polo and sighed. He closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair. He heard a knock on his door and turned around.

"Hey, hon, you almost ready to go?" His mom asked, opening the door. Evan opened his eyes and nodded. "You look so cute." She put a hand on his shoulder. "My little guy's going on his first date!"

"Mom," Evan chuckled, turning his head away.

"Oh, I promise not to embarrass you. I'll just drop you off at the movie theater and head over to work. Just a quick hello to Zoe that's all." She smiled. She patted him on the shoulder and started walking out his door. "Let's get a move on, then. Don't want you to be late!" Evan took one last look in the mirror. _Here goes nothing…_

Evan waited in his mom's car, staring at the ground, doing his best not to get himself too worked up. _She's definitely coming. It's only 6:03. She probably got caught up in traffic. It's not like she's gonna stand you up. Zoe's too nice for that. _He leaned over to look out the window. He glanced at the clock again. 6:05. _What if she was on her way but got into an accident. What if she got here early but got kidnapped. No that's insane. But-_ He glanced out the window again and spotted her car. He saw her open the door and step out.

"She's here!" Evan barely managed to squeak out as he unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door. He took a couple steps to the side before waving to Zoe. She smiled and waved back before locking her car and walking over. _Okay, play it cool. Play it cool. _

"Hi!" Zoe said as she walked up to him, waving a little. Evan waved back. Her hair was half-back and curly and she wore a flowery dress. _She looks beautiful._ He blushed a little and smiled. _Should I hug her? Would that be weird? I mean I kissed her, but that was different and I don't know if she'd even want to hug me. Oh god, are my hands sweaty?_ Zoe reached out her arms for a hug and Evan embraced her back. _Well that answers that._

"Hi there!" Evan's mom said from the driver's seat of the car. "I'm Evan's mom, Heidi." Zoe pulled away from the hug.

"Hi, I'm Zoe," she replied, pushing her hair back a bit as she leaned down to greet his mom.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I hate to run so fast, but I've got to go to work. Ev, just text me when the movie's done. Have a great time, you guys!"

"Alright, mom," Evan said quietly, putting his hands in his pockets. She waved before taking the car out of park and driving away. Evan turned to Zoe. "So," he said with a half-smile.

"So," Zoe repeated. He looked into her eyes. _How did this even happen? Me and her._ She turned to the theater. "You ready to go in?" _Shit. Don't make it awkward._

"Yeah, sure. Sorry." He scratched the back of his head. They both reached to open the door.

"Oops," they said in unison. Zoe chuckled a little.

"Here, uh, let me." Evan took the door handle and opened it for her. She smiled and nodded her head as she walked through.

"Thanks." Evan walked through after her. _Cool. You're being a gentleman. Keep it up._ They got in line for the concession stand. Zoe looked down at her ticket.

"Hopefully this movie is good. I've been looking forward to it for months," she said, turning to Evan. He grinned.

"Me- me too!" Evan exclaimed. _We have something in common! Hooray!_ They approached the front of the line. Evan held a 20 dollar bill, flipping it over in his hands. "Uh-" he said, looking up at the menu screen. He tapped his fingers on the counter. _One medium popcorn. One medium popcorn. Just say it. You won't say it weird. One medium popcorn._ But no words came out of his mouth. _Now the cashier will think I'm weird. Zoe probably does too. Shit. Shit. Shit._

"Can we have one medium popcorn please?" Zoe asked from next to him. Evan raised his eyebrows as he looked to Zoe. She gave him a reassuring nod. They finished the exchange and started to walk into the movie.

"Thank you- for- for ordering. I don't know- I- sorry. I should have been able to- I'm sorry," Evan stuttered, looking down.

"Hey, it's fine. You don't need to apologize." She rested her hand on his shoulder. _Don't freak out. Don't freak out. Don't freak out._ She gave him a half-smile then walked ahead up the ramp. They stood at the front of the theater, surveying the seats. Zoe pointed out an open spot, then took his hand and started walking up the stairs. _Don't freak out! Don't freak out! Don't freak out!_ They took their seats next to each other right as the final previews finished. The lights started to dim. _Ok, here come the easier part. Just watch the movie. It's that easy, right? Right?_

The first 30 minutes of the movie were pretty uneventful. Their hands would brush together as they both reached for popcorn at the same time and Evan would blush a bright red. Thank goodness the room is dark. Every now and then Evan would take his sight away from the screen to look at Zoe. She was so enthralled with the film that she didn't even notice. But oh, the way the light was reflected in her eyes. Evan could stare at her for forever.

The movie was almost over. A dramatic moment. The theater was almost completely silent. Evan looked over to Zoe. He put his hand down on his leg next to Zoe, where she could see it, but it wasn't _totally _obvious. Just like in the movies. He turned to glance at her for a moment before looking back at the screen. When he looked down again, Zoe had done the same. _Okay, okay, okay. Just kind of casually take her hand. Your hands are not sweaty._ He reached out his hand to hers. He saw her look back at him before she took his hand and squeezed it tight. _Yes! It worked!_ He looked down at their hands intertwined. _This is really happening._ He turned to look at her. She was already staring. _What now?_ He accidentally let his gaze fall to her lips. _No, don't do it again. It backfired last time. Don't do it._

Zoe leaned over and kissed him. It took him a moment to register that yes, she actually was kissing him. On her own accord. And he started kissing back. It only lasted a few moments before they pulled away. Even in the darkness, Evan could see she was blushing. They both smiled before looking in opposite directions. Evan let out a sigh of relief. _So this didn't go completely wrong after all._ Zoe rested her head on his shoulder. Evan held his breath for a moment before leaning his head on top of hers. _Not at all._


	14. Day Fourteen: Pail

**A/N: Sorry this is still late, but I'm planning on getting caught up (and maybe ahead?) tonight. Anyway, last night's was a bit of a different style that I kind of like, with the 3rd person, but focused on one character with all the thoughts and stuff. It didn't really fit with tonight's story, but I might work it in later. Anyway, enjoy tonight's chapter!**

Day Fourteen: Pail

_Evan and Zoe go to the beach._

The beach was quiet. It was about 5 in the morning, and the waves of families that typically crowd the beach were yet to arrive. This was Evan's favorite time to be at the beach. When he could just walk along the shore and not have to worry about small children running amuck or the judging eyes of parents and lifeguards. Where he could really just walk and enjoy the beach. Enjoy the company of whoever was with him. And he certainly was.

Hand-in-hand, Evan and Zoe walked down the beach. They walked in mostly silence, every now and then pointing out a bird or a fish jumping out of the water. Right at the sun was rising above the horizon, Zoe made a discovery.

"Aw look, some little kid left their pail here," Zoe said, pointing with one hand. Evan hummed in response, looking over at the little green pail sitting in the sand. She turned around to look at him, a mischievous look in her eye. "We should build a sand castle." Evan raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "What? We totally should! Come on!" Zoe pulled him over to the tiny pail, which still had its matching shovel inside. Zoe kneeled down in the sand, pulling it out. She dusted off some of the sand, then pulled the shovel out. She surveyed the area around her before scooting closer to the water as Evan sat down next to her. She handed Evan the pail before using the little shovel to start digging a moat.

"What can I do to help, 'Master Castle Builder Zoe'?" Evan asked with a cheeky grin. She gave him a mock offended look before shaking her head and smiling.

"Go fill that up with some moderately damp sand and bring it back." Evan stood up and looked around the beach.

"What would you qualify as 'moderately damp' sand?" Evan asked, turning from side to side. Zoe rolled her eyes.

"Right over there, right above where the tide goes." Zoe pointed to the spot as Evan nodded and walked over. She continued digging out the moat area until she was satisfied.

"For you, m'lady," Evan said from behind her as he crouched down, handing her the pail.

"Why thank you, fine sir," Zoe replied with a grin, taking the pail and patting down the sand inside. "Here goes nothing." She flipped the bucket into the middle of the moat. Still holding onto it, she turned to Evan. "Wanna give me a hand?" Evan sat down next to her, grabbing onto the pail. They both turned to face each other, smiling. They nodded to each other before looking down at the castle.

"3… 2… 1…" Evan counted down softly before they both pulled up on the pail to reveal a tiny sandcastle. Zoe laughed a little, clapping her hands.

"We did it!" She grabbed Evan's arm and pulled him closer.

"Yay!" Evan said softly, turning his head to Zoe.

"Now we should decorate it with seashells," she said softly. Evan chuckled.

"Ok." He stood up, grabbing Zoe's hands and pulling her up with him. She linked arms with him as they walked over to the water. Zoe spotted a shell and leaned over to pick it up. Evan did the same as he found one himself. As they both reached down to get one, Zoe seized her opportunity and splashed Evan in the face with water. Zoe exploded in laughter. He exclaimed in shock as he wiped it off his face. "Hey! You can't do that and expect to get away with it!" He splashed Zoe this time, who squealed. Zoe ran in the opposite direction, splashing some water back at Evan as she did.

"Take that!" She laughed. Evan ran up to her and took her by the waist, spinning around. She lifted her head up to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. They stood, staring into each other's eyes for a moment before Evan leaned in and closed the gap between them. The kiss was short-lived, however, when Zoe took a step back, feeling something crumble under her feet. She pulled away and looked down. Beneath her sand-covered converse were the remains of their sandcastle.

"Well, shit," Evan said, leaning over to look at the ruins. He looked back to Zoe, who shrugged.

"Oh well." She took one last look at the castle. "I'd much rather go back to what we were doing," she said with a flirtatious look. Evan chuckled before leaning back in for another kiss.


	15. Day Fifteen: Pastel

**A/N: Late again. And this is really short and it's complete shit. I wanted to do so much more with this, but I just don't have time. Oh well. I sincerely apologize for this one. I promise to make up for it with the next couple. **

Day Fifteen: Pastel

_When Evan falls asleep during a video call, Zoe takes her opportunity to draw him._

"Mm, if you say so," Evan said, his words slurring together. It was about 4 o'clock in the morning, and Evan and Zoe had been talking over a video call the entire night. Zoe, who was having trouble sleeping anyway, was wide awake. Evan, despite typically being a total night owl, was drifting off to sleep. Zoe looked at the screen as Evan closed his eyes.

"Ev?" she whispered, with no response. She chuckled a bit to herself. She considered ending the call, but then noticed the art supplies on her desk. _Hm, might as well._ She picked up her phone and walked it over to the desk, grabbing a piece of paper. She grabbed a pencil and stared at the screen for a while. _He's so cute. _She waited for a moment, smiling before starting to sketch out his face. She got the shape pretty simply, and Evan didn't move, so that was making her life easier. Evan's head was held up slightly by one of his hands, which was resting on his other arm. She looked down at her paper. She liked the pencil sketch, but it needed something more.

Zoe picked up the box of oil pastels from the top of her desk. She surveyed Evan's face for another moment. She grabbed a blue color and started to fill in the outline of his shirt. She loved when Evan wore blue. Something about the color was just so… him. Much more than the sky, and much more than the sea. It was calm. Deep. Real. Evan.

Next, Zoe took a dark brown for his hair. His hair was all tousled up on top of his head. A bit fell in front of his face. She loved it when he got nervous he'd run his hands through his hair and mess it all up. She'd always try and fix it, but he'd always end up messing it up again.

She looked intently at the screen. Evan had started to snore quietly. Zoe rested her chin on her hand. _How did I get so lucky?_ She thought to herself. _How did I get so lucky to get stuck with this dork?_ She smiled to herself.

"I love you," she said softly, though she knew he couldn't hear her. Though she could have sworn she saw a hint of a smile on his face. Maybe he did hear her.


	16. Day Sixteen: Puddles

**A/N: Me? Posting a chapter on time for once? It's more likely than you think. Anyway, this one's a little on the short side, but I like it. I might end up posting tomorrow's too if I get to it. We'll see. Enjoy!**

Day Sixteen: Puddles

_Ever since she was little, Zoe always had to jump in puddles when she saw them._

Zoe stared intently out the window, her breath fogging up the raindrop-covered glass. The ground outside was covered in water, leaving several puddles in potholes. Her eye glances from puddle to puddle as the rainfall began to dwindle. _Come on, stop raining, will you?_

"What're you doing, Zo?" Evan asked from beside her. She continued looking at the puddles outside. _Almost… Almost…_ She watched as the dripping finally stopped. She stood up from the couch and pulled her shoes closer.

"Put your shoes on," she said, turning to him for a moment, before tying the shoelaces on one of her shoes.

"Wh-" He started, leaning forward to try and make eye contact. Zoe leaned down to put on her other shoe, and grabbed his shoes, flinging them towards him.

"Don't ask questions, just trust me." Evan opened his mouth to object, but just closed it started putting on his shoes. Zoe finished tying the other shoe's laces and hopped up from the couch. As soon as Evan pulled on his shoes, she took his hands and pulled him up. She led him to the front door, opened it, then ran outside.

"Zoe? What are we doing?" Evan asked, letting go of her hand as she continued to run out into the street. She stopped right before a puddle, and turned to look back at Evan, smirking. "No- you're not-" She threw her hands into the air and jumped right into the puddle, splashing water all over herself. She started laughing as she ran back over to Evan. He shook his head as she grabbed his hands and pulled him with her out into the pavement. "You're insane," he said with a smile. She stood on her tiptoes to lean closer.

"You know you love it," she said, scrunching up her nose. Evan placed a hand on her face. Right as he started to lean in, Zoe lifted her leg back and kicked a puddle of water at Evan. She laughed and stepped away as Evan froze. He flicked his hands to shake off the water.

"Ok." He closed his eyes for a minute. He took a deep breath. "I see how it is." He bit his lip and put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Zoe crossed her arms as Evan slowly walked closer. He kept walking until he was right in front of her. He made sure to stand up as tall as he could. Zoe lifted her head and stood on her toes, but was still significantly shorter than him. Evan squinted his eyes at Zoe. She squinted her eyes back.

"Wha-" Evan jumped into the puddle between them, splashing Zoe with water. She gasped and pushed Evan away gently. He laughed and reached out for her hand. She laced her fingers with his, and the two of them ran down the street, jumping in every puddle they saw. They stopped at the end of the road and stared out at the sky. Most of the clouds had cleared away, and the sun was just barely peeking through. Between a couple clouds was a small rainbow. Zoe smiled.

"It's beautiful," Evan said softly. She turned to him, who was already looking at her. She blushed a little, squeezing his hand.

"No you," she said with a grin. He chuckled as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"You're a dork." He put an arm around her waist. She lifted her chin to look up at him.

"Yeah." She smirked. "But I'm your dork." He smiled at her and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"That you are," he replied, pulling her closer as the two of them looked at the rainbow. "Now let's go inside because we're soaking wet and I refuse to let you catch a cold."


	17. Day Seventeen: Rainy

**A/N: I'm on time again! Hooray! And I'm back with better quality, longer one-shots. I'm pretty proud of this one here. It's based off of something that actually happened with my friend and her boyfriend which my single self thought was so cute, and really works for the prompt, and for Evan and Zoe. I put in the whole squad because I love writing them bicker, and after my friend told me what happened for her, I could only imagine the rest of her friends watching. The last part there is purely for fun. So here it is. Enjoy!**

Day Seventeen: Rainy

_When it starts to rain, Evan remembers something Zoe once told him._

Evan sat at the table, holding his head up with his hand. Jared and Alana were deep in an argument about who knows what. Evan's gaze was focused on Zoe. The way the light was hitting her face and making it shine. The way her hair fell perfectly in her face and she pushed it behind her ear. The way her face flickered alive when she entered the conversation. _Holy shit I'm in love._ He let out a sigh. _Evan? Evan?_ He thought he was imagining the voice, but as soon as Zoe caught his eye contact, he blinked, looking away while slowly coming back to reality.

"You good, Evan?" Alana asked. He suddenly remembered his surroundings. The group was hanging out at a starbucks. It was right after the semester final exams, and they were hanging out before they went on break. Evan nodded quickly. _Damn it, why can't I just act like a normal person for once in my life._

"I was just asking your opinion on emo music, since Mr. Dark and Brooding over here claims it's good," Jared said, crossing his arms. Connor groaned.

"For the last time, Kleinman, it's not emo music, it's good music. I doubt you've got better music taste," Connor sneered as Jared gasped in mock offense.

"How dare you assume that 21 Pilots or any of the other shit you listen to is in any way better than the likes of Wham! and other great 80s bands." Connor rolled his eyes. "Evan, please tell this _idiot_ he's wrong." Evan raised his eyebrows in surprise. _Just say something. Don't offend anyone._

"Uh, well I- Idon'treallylistentoeitherofthoseIjustlikeearly2000smusicokay?" Evan said so fast his words meshed together. _Wow, good job. You can't even speak a sentence normally._ He looked down at his hands.

"Yeah, and we all know that jazz is the superior music style," Zoe butted in before anyone could comment. Evan looked up for a moment to give her a thankful smile.

"Get out of here with your elevator music shit! Nobody likes that anymore!" Jared exclaimed. Zoe's mouth gaped open.

"You take that back!" Jared only shook his head. Zoe crossed her arms and slumped in her chair. When he was sure she wasn't looking back, Evan looked up at her and sighed. When she started to turn her head his way, he quickly switched his glance to the window. Raindrops were scattered across the window. More rain splashed in the puddles on the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zoe start to look out the window too. A memory flashed in his head.

_'I love the rain,' Zoe said, sitting on the steps of the porch, reaching out a hand from under the cover to let the water drip into her hand._ _Evan smiled back at her._

_'Me too,' he said. 'It's so… calming.' Zoe closed her hand and pulled it back under the cover. She turned to look at Evan._

_'I've always wanted-' She started to speak, before looking away and blushing. 'Nevermind, you'll probably think it's stupid.'_

_'No, what were you going to say?' Evan asked, raising his eyebrows. Zoe turned back to him._

_'Well, ever since I was little, I've always dreamed of slow dancing in the rain. I know it's cheesy, but those scenes in movies are so romantic and I've always hoped that one day I could live it out, you know. If I find the right guy who understands,' Zoe said, grinning, before looking back out to the rain. _Like me… _Evan thought, still looking at Zoe. _

_'Yeah, totally.'_

Evan took one more glance at the rain, and another at Zoe before looking down at his hands. _Okay, you can do this. For Zoe. For Zoe._ He took a deep breath and stood up from his chair. Alana, Connor, and Jared were once again deep in conversation, so they didn't even notice. But Zoe did. _Here goes nothing. _Evan made eye contact with her, before smiling and signalling to the door with his head. Zoe furrowed her brow for a minute before also standing up. She walked over to Evan, who was already holding open the door. He motioned his hand for her to walk outside. She did, and he closed the door behind them as he followed.

"What's going on? Is everything ok?" She asked. _Oh she's probably worried. You should have been more obvious. Damn it Evan, don't screw this up. This has to be perfect._

"Everything's fine," he said, taking her hands. "I just saw my opportunity and wanted to help fulfill one of your dreams." _That's cheesy, but I think it's ok._ Zoe gave him a confused look. Evan gave her a half-smile as he started to back up into the rain.

"Evan?" She asked with a laugh as he stepped out from under the cover and into the pouring rain, getting soaked. He winced at the cold, but continued to walk out until Zoe was in the rain too. She giggled, holding onto his hands tighter. "What-" Evan smiled as he moved her hands up to his shoulders and let go. Realization spawned on her face. He placed his hands on her waist. Zoe smiled so wide he thought she might burst. He started to sway from side to side. "You remembered!" Zoe said softly.

"Of course I remembered," he replied, shaking his head a little to get some water out of his face. Zoe chuckled. "I was taking notes from the very beginning."

"Now I feel stupid for not noticing earlier," Zoe said, looking down.

"I'm still surprised you picked me at all," Evan chuckled to himself. Zoe leaned her head down to meet his eyes. She moved one of her hands up to his cheek. Closing her eyes, she closed the gap between them. The kiss only lasted a moment before Zoe pulled away.

"Still surprised, huh?" She said with a flirtatious glint in her eye. Evan shrugged. Zoe shook her head and pulled him closer. The two of them continued dancing to the sound of the rain. Zoe rested her head on his shoulder. "Thank you for this, Ev. I love you." Even though she'd said the words to him before, it still gave him goosebumps. Or perhaps it was the cold of the rain. He leaned his head back to look at her.

"I love you too," he replied softly. He placed his hands up to her face, looking into her eyes. Zoe did the same. Evan leaned in for another kiss. Zoe pulled him closer and kissed back. They broke away and rested their foreheads together, staring into each other's eyes.

From inside the starbucks, Alana, Jared, and Connor stared at Evan and Zoe dancing out in the rain through the window.

"Holy shit!" Jared exclaimed. "He actually managed to suck it up and get with her."

"Jared, they've been dating for a couple months now," Alana said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but I didn't really believe him, you know. Thought he might have been making it up or something. You know how he can be." Jared shrugged.

"I'm gonna kill him," Connor said under his breath.

"Why?" Alana asked. "They're cute together."

"Because he's kissing my sister." Connor crossed his arms.

"Like you really care," Jared scoffed. "I'm just gonna give them all kinds of grief when they get back. You know, like a good friend."

"Yep," Connor and Alana said in unison as the three of them continued to watch the couple.


	18. Day Eighteen: Renew

**A/N: Hey, I'm posting like 20 minutes early tonight! Yay! So anyway this one's kind of long and I honestly have no idea what the hell it is. It barely relates to the prompt and I rambled a lot so yeah. Yeehaw. Once again threw the whole group in because I love them. Hope you enjoy this. And if y'all could drop a review if you like this whole 30 day thing. I'm considering doing another one next month, and I'd love to hear suggestions on what theme it should be (Like, all different AUs or crossovers, or types of prompts, ya know.) I love getting feedback, and it always makes me want to write more knowing that people enjoy my work. :) **

Day Eighteen: Renew

_Evan renews his netflix subscription and the group has a movie night._

"I have arrived, bitches! The party is here!" Jared announced as he walked through the door, a large box of microwave popcorn in his hands.

"Why do we invite him?" Connor groaned as he placed the cans of soda on the counter. Zoe shrugged.

"Please, I had to drive him here," Alana sighed, closing the door behind her. "You don't even know half of the pain." Zoe greeted her with a hug as Evan walked into the room, remote in hand.

"Great! Everyone's here," he said with a smile. "So my mom's working all night, so we don't have to worry about bothering her-"

"And no, Jared. We are _not_ throwing a kegger," Zoe said, pointing to Jared, whose mouth was open to protest, but said nothing.

"And we've got snacks, and a whole newly-renewed netflix subscription." Evan grinned, fiddling with the remote.

"We should watch a horror movie," Connor said through a mouthful of popcorn. Zoe turned to her brother and raised her eyebrows at him. Connor just shrugged.

"Yes! I know a great one on netflix with one of those creepy dolls!" Jared said as he walked to grab some popcorn. Evan's eyes widened as he looked frantically from Connor to Jared.

"May-" He started.

"I personally don't get horror movies. The people are always so stupid in them. Like, just turn the lights on. Call the cops. I mean," Alana said, crossing her arms.

"Then you can make fun of them, but the rest of us want to get scared." Jared grinned. "Except me, of course. I never get scared by that kind of stuff."

"I believe you're forgetting when we watched The Conjuring and you wouldn't come out from under the table for like an hour," Connor said with a smirk. Jared frowned and flipped off Connor.

"Well, maybeweshouldwatchsomethingotherthanahorrormovie…" Evan mumbled, looking down. Zoe walked over to Evan and laced her fingers with his.

"I'll be right next to you the whole time," she whispered as she leaned closer to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. Evan gave her a half-smile and squeezed her hand. "Alright, well you two idiots go get the movie set up." Zoe pointed to Jared and Connor. "We'll pop up all the popcorn." Evan handed the remote to Connor as he and Jared walked into the living room. He took a deep breath.

"Time to start mentally preparing myself for this," he said under his breath to Zoe.

The popcorn was all popped. The movie was all set to go. The group was all somehow squeezed together on Evan's rather small living room couch. Zoe was practically in Evan's lap, while Alana took up the middle seat, with Connor next to her and Jared on the other end with his legs hanging off the edge. After distributing blankets and pillows and turning all the lights off, they started the movie.

For the first bit, Evan was okay. It was a lot of character building and scene setting. There were some scenes in a forest, and he whispered to Zoe about the kind of trees he saw. Evan was hoping the rest of the movie would be like that. A little eery, but no jump scares or anything. He was wrong.

With the first jump scare, Evan did his best to hold in his scream, but it just came out as a squeak. Zoe barely flinched, she just squeezed Evan's hand tighter. Alana and Connor remained emotionless, but Jared almost fell off the couch.

"It just surprised me, okay? I wasn't scare-" Jared started to defend himself as the rest of them shushed him. It wasn't very scary for a while after that. More plot stuff. Every now and then there would be a jumpscare and Evan would only flinch a little. Evan was actually sort of enjoying the movie.

But of course, there were setbacks to watching it with the group. Particularly Jared. Every time the main couple would kiss, he'd turn to Evan and Zoe and either wolf whistle or make some comment about the two of them. After the second time, Zoe told Connor to hit him, which he happily did, then promptly told him to shut up, with quite a few colorful curse words thrown in. It took Alana yelling to finally get everyone quiet again. When Jared protested, he was kicked off the couch and forced to sit on the floor.

To Evan's dismay, the mild portion of the movie was over. The climax was approaching, and that meant it was getting even scarier. Evan ducked under the blanket he and Zoe were sharing. Zoe chuckled and pulled him closer as he peeked his eyes out from under. They all watched intently as the monster approached the protagonist. But then it attacked and every one of them screamed. They all were in a huddle as Alana fell off the couch and hid under one of the blankets. Evan and Zoe held each other as tight as they could. Jared hid under the coffee table, clutching his phone, which had the flashlight on. They stayed in that position until the movie ended. As the screen faded to black and the credits began to roll, Jared let out a sigh.

"That was great! Let's watch another!" He exclaimed, crawling out from under the table.

"No!" Evan yelled, before ducking back under a blanket.

"Ev, are you alright?" Zoe asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. He shook his head.

"Even I'll admit that was quite scary," Alana said, pulling herself back onto the couch. Zoe turned her head to Evan, who was barely starting to show his face again. She pulled the blanket down a bit and kissed him on the forehead.

"Aww," Jared said tauntingly. Zoe frowned and picked up a pillow near her.

"Jared, I swear to God, I'm gonna kill you if you keep this up." She held the pillow back, ready to throw at him.

"Yeah, right," he sneered. Zoe threw the pillow, full force at his face, knocking his glasses to the ground. He stood still for a moment as Connor started cackling. Jared took a deep breath and threw the pillow at Connor's face. Connor chucked it back at Jared, and with that, a full blown pillow fight began. Alana tried to keep the peace, but ended up just leaving the room. Evan was mostly out from under the blanket, and would sometimes try to attack with a pillow, but was mostly the victim. Zoe was ruthless in the pillow fight, having no hesitation in beating up the boys. Suddenly, Evan heard a suspicious noise.

"Wait, what was that?" Evan blocked a hit with a pillow from Zoe. "Wait guys, shush." They all quieted down for a moment. There was a knocking coming from somewhere.

"What the hell?" Connor said under his breath. The knocking continued and Zoe took Evan's hand. Jared armed himself with a pillow. As they stood up and investigated, they realised the knocking was coming from the glass door to the backyard. The four of them approached slowly. Zoe kept one hand in Evan's and the other up in case she needed to punch somebody. As the knocking continued, they all turned to each other. A light from the door shined directly at them. They all screamed and fell to the floor. The door opened and they heard hysterical laughter.

"Oh my God! That was the funniest thing I've seen in my entire life!" Alana roared with laughter, dropping the flashlight she held on the ground. Jared threw his pillow at her face, which just made her laugh harder.

"Not funny, Alana. Not. Funny." Connor groaned, running his hand through his hair. Evan and Zoe stayed huddled together on the ground.

"Yeah," Evan squeaked out.

"It was funny," Alana said, gasping for breath. "It was really funny." Zoe bit her lip and turned her head to Evan.

"It was kind of funny, actually." She shrugged. Evan chuckled and shook his head, before kissing her on the cheek. They all stood up and walked back to the couch.

"I say we watch something a little calmer next. Not quite so frightening," Evan said as he sat down. Zoe and Alana turned to each other with a mischevious look.

"High School Musical!" They said in unison, earning groans from Jared and Connor.

"How about no. That movie is trash." Jared crossed his arms.

"You take that back! That movie is my childhood and one of the greatest movies of all time!" Zoe yelled, pointing at Jared.

"Yeesh, sorry. Fine, we can watch it if you're going to kill me over it." Jared raised his arms and looked away.

"I just might," Zoe said with a smirk. Evan chuckled.

"High School Musical it is," he said, clicking the remote to find the movie before grabbing a bowl of popcorn and leaning back on the couch.


	19. Day Nineteen: Stubborn

**A/N: Sorry. Late again. Had an awful headache last night and I tried my best, but I just couldn't finish it. Anyway, here's yesterday's prompt. I'll try to upload 2 tomorrow so I'm all caught up, but we'll see. There's only 10 days left though. Crazy. If you guys have any ideas for next month (If I do another challenge) or if you want to tell me how terrible my writing is, please drop a review. It gives me so much more inspiration to write knowing people are reading it. Thanks. :)**

Day Nineteen: Stubborn

_Zoe claims she's feeling ok enough to go to school, but Evan says otherwise._

From the moment her alarm rang, Zoe felt like shit. As soon as she opened her eyes, she was so dizzy she could barely even think. All that with a stuffed up nose and a sore throat, she barely managed to get herself out of bed. Sniffling, she picked up her phone and stumbled downstairs. Grabbing a bagel and sitting at the table, she noticed her backpack was missing. _Must've left it at Evan's last night._ She squinted as she unlocked her phone and dialed Evan. It rang for a minute before he picked up.

"Hey, Zo? What's going on?" He asked, breathing a little heavily, which Zoe assumed was from him dashing to grab his phone.

"I think I left my backpack at your house last night, can you check?" She croaked, rubbing her forehead with her hand. There was a silence from the phone for a moment.

"Are you ok? You don't sound too good." Zoe cleared her throat and scoffed with mock offense.

"Wow, thanks. Love you too," she said with a smirk.

"No- I- you know what I mean-" Evan stuttered.

"No, no. I'm- I'm ok," Zoe shrugged. Evan sighed. There was some rumbling from his side of the phone, then Evan spoke again.

"Yeah, your backpack's here. Want me to bring it to you?" Zoe ran her fingers through her hair and sniffled.

"Nah, it's fine. I'll just meet you at school." Zoe's voice cracked and she winced in pain. Evan sighed again.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Zoe rolled her eyes and nodded to herself.

"Yeah. Yeah. I'll see you at school. Love you, bye," Zoe replied before Evan could say anything else. Evan barely managed to get in a goodbye before Zoe hung up the phone. She shook her head. _I'm totally fine. Just need to power through the morning and I'll feel better._ At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

Zoe finished her breakfast and walked back up the stairs. Overcome with dizziness, she had to stop for a moment as she climbed. Connor, walking down the stairs stopped for a moment.

"You look like shit," he said with a smirk. Zoe groaned and flipped him off as he shrugged and continued down the stairs. She took a deep breath and resumed stepping up the stairs.

"Zoe, can you drive Connor to school today? I've got book club," her mom asked as she jogged down the stairs, not even waiting for a response from Zoe. Zoe gave her a sarcastic thumbs up, then walked into her room. Pulling out her clothes, she stopped and looked in the mirror. _Come on, Zoe. You can do this. You're not sick. _She coughed, which triggered a rather long coughing fit. _You're. Not. Sick._

After changing and putting on the least makeup she could (Just until she deemed herself presentable), she charged down the stairs again. She entered the kitchen, grabbed her keys, then motioned her head to Connor.

"Finally. Took you long enough," he grunted as he slid the strap of his bag over his shoulder. Zoe sniffled and rolled her eyes.

"If you wanted to leave earlier, you should have learned how to drive." She nodded her head in goodbye to her parents. "Now come on you emo asshole, we're gonna be late." She coughed a little and turned for the door.

"Zoe Rose Murphy!" Her mom gasped, standing up from her seat at the table. Zoe smirked a little to herself. She walked out the front door and squinted at the sunlight. As she unlocked her car, she started sneezing uncontrollably. _Yep. I'm definitely not sick._

"Whenever you're done hacking up a lung, can we go to school?" Connor asked as he slid into the passenger seat. Zoe took a deep breath, sniffled and turned to Connor.

"Connor, if you don't want to walk to school, I highly suggest you shut the hell up." Connor didn't say anything more as she started the car and started to drive. Every now and then as she stopped at a red light, she had to close her eyes for a moment so she wouldn't swerve off the road. As much as she kept telling herself she was fine, she was beginning to have her doubts.

After what seemed like the longest car ride, they finally arrived at school. As she walked through the doors, she saw Evan waiting for her with her backpack. He smiled as she walked up to him and greeted him with a hug. Her head started reeling as she lifted her head up.

"Hey, you ok?" Evan asked, taking her hands. She nodded, as she tried her best to hide a cough.

"Yeah, just a little tired I guess," she replied, wincing a bit. Evan frowned a little, not believing it for a second. He placed a hand on her forehead.

"Zo, you're burning up." Zoe sniffled.

"Evan, I'm- I'm fine, I promise." Evan shook his head. He booped her on the nose.

"You are so stubborn sometimes," he said taking her hands again. "Now let me take care of you. Please?" Zoe sighed and frowned. She shrugged and Evan grinned. "So, can your parents pick you up, or do you need a ride?"

"No, I- I can drive myself home," Zoe said, sniffling again. Evan raised an eyebrow. "Sorry. Uh, my mom is having her book club over and my dad has work."

"Alright, I'll drive you home then." Zoe opened her mouth to protest, but Evan just shook his head. "Let's go talk to the front desk and get us excused from class." He squeezed her hand, then walked up to the lady at the front desk.

"Uh- we uh- we need to uh- be- be excused from- from class. She's- she's sick. I'm taking her home," he stuttered, pointing to Zoe.

"Well, I'm gonna need a phone call from your parents," she said after typing something on her computer.

"I'm- I'm eighteen, and both- both of our parents are busy- I uh-" Evan scratched the back of his head and looked down. Zoe coughed, mostly on purpose.

"I can't drive right now, and I don't have anyone to get me back home," Zoe said, making the croak in her voice a little clearer. The front desk lady sighed.

"Alright, this one time. Now what are your names?"

"Ev- Evan Hansen and Zoe Murphy." She wrote down the names, then handed them the yellow slips. "Thank- thank you." The two of them walked out into the parking lot towards where Zoe's car was parked. "That was really awkward," Evan sighed. Zoe chuckled a bit, before coughing some more. Evan gave her a concerned look. She shook her head. Once they got to her car, Zoe tossed him the keys and sat in the passenger seat. Evan bit his lip as he sat down and started the car, being careful as he pulled it out of park. "Haven't driven in a while. My mom's been working all the time so she's had the car."

"Well, fair warning, if my mom can't pick up Connor after school, you might have to do some more," she laughed. Evan's eyes widened. They drove in silence for a while. "Thank you, Evan. You really didn't have to do this." Evan gave her a half-smile.

"Yeah, I did."

The two finally arrived at Zoe's house, and tried to get through the front door as quietly as they could. But that didn't quite work.

"Larry? You're back early," Her mom called from the other room. Evan and Zoe looked to each other and shrugged.

"It's uh- it's me, Evan. Zoe wasn't feeling well," Evan replied. There was silence from the other room. Evan shrugged again. He took Zoe's hand and walked up the stairs. Walking into her room, she sat down on her bed. "I'll uh- I'll go grab some tissues and stuff for you. You get comfortable." Evan squeezed her hand and walked out of her room.

Within minutes, Evan walked back with at least 3 boxes of tissues, a cup of tea, and a blueberry muffin, a huge smile on his face. Zoe sighed with a chuckle.

"I love you." She smiled as he set the tea and tissues on her nightstand.

"I know," he chuckled, handing her the muffin. "And yes, that was a Star Wars reference. You're welcome." Zoe rolled her eyes. He grabbed her TV remote off the nightstand and turned it on as she took a bite out of the muffin. "Now, I'll put on La La Land for you, and I want you to get some rest, okay?" She gave him a loving look.

"What would I do without you?" She took his hand. He shrugged. "So are you gonna go back to school or- will you stay with me? I could use some company." She gave him her biggest puppy-dog eyes. He sighed, looking to the door, then back to her.

"I- fine, but if you get me sick, I expect the same treatment," he joked, pulling over her office chair and sitting down in it. She held her hand out for him to take. He quickly laced his fingers with hers as the movie began.


	20. Day Twenty: Rip

**A/N: I'm late again. Sorry. But anyway, this one is also quite a bit longer, and I'm actually pretty proud of it. It works as a bit of a prologue to my personal favorite so far, the "New" prompt from the 13th. I kind of added it in later, so I just barely peppered in the fact that he's already kissed her towards the end, so there might be some inconsistencies. This was inspired by both If I Could Tell Her, obviously, and also the cut song Obvious, which I absolutely love (Love me some Taylor Trensch). I tried to work a bit of both into Evan's letter. Hope you enjoy!**

Day Twenty: Rip

_Evan writes a love letter to Zoe, but rips it up before she sees it. Or did she see it?_

_**Dear Zoe Murphy,**_ He began typing on the computer. Scanning his brain for the right words, he stared blankly at the screen. _**I love you.**_ He sighed. _No, too forward._ He deleted it. _**I know we've never talked but you're incredible and**_ He deleted the words from the screen. _No. How hard is it just to say everything I feel? _

"Whatcha doin, hun?" His mom asked, opening the door. Startled, he shut his computer. _Oh, not much, just trying to write a love letter to a girl I've barely talked to. A girl who I tried to confess my love to and ended up kissing her on her comatose brother's bed. And she ran away from me. No my life isn't that sad._ She looked from him to the shut laptop and raised an eyebrow. "Writing those letters to yourself that Dr. Sherman told you about?" _Sure, that's a little less sad._ He nodded quickly. "Aw, that's great! Those are really helping you, huh?" Evan shrugged.

"I guess," he replied. _They at least got Zoe to finally talk to me. But they also almost got me trapped in a shit ton of lies. _His mom grinned, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, I left money on the counter. You don't mind taking the bus to school today?" Evan shook his head. "Alright then. I'll see you tonight if you're still up when I get home." She kissed him on the top of his head and started walked for the door. She pointed to the small box on his nightstand. "Need any refills?" He shook his head. She nodded. "Ok. I'll see you later, alligator!" She smiled, pointing at Evan. Evan pointed back with a tiny smile.

"In a while, crocodile," he replied quietly. His mom left his room, closing the door. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. After staring at the wall for a moment, he slid out of bed, put his laptop in his bag, and walked out of his room.

_**Dear Zoe Murphy,**_ Those were the only words on the document. Leaning back in the chair, he closed his eyes. _This has to be perfect. _He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. _**From the moment I met you, I felt like I knew you. We never said a word, but I felt a connection. **__Okay, that doesn't suck. __**It's obvious, really, why I like you. The way you smile that's just so subtle and perfect and real. How you scribble stars on the cuffs of your jeans when you get bored, and you still fill out the quizzes in those magazines. The way you dance like the rest of the world can't see you. There's so many wonderful, perfect, incredible things about you.**_ Evan stopped for a minute, staring back at his words. _**I've just never found the way to tell you. **_He sighed. _How could I? We've hardly talked, and I could hardly get the right words out anyway. Talking's never been my strong suit. All I can do is write it. __**We're a million worlds apart. I've always thought, if I could just tell her. If I could just tell her how much she means to me, maybe I wouldn't be so lonely. Maybe she could see me for who I am. Maybe she could love me too. But there's this great divide between us. There's a distance that's just too wide. I try to speak from the distance, but my voice can't reach. But I love you. I love you. **__I love you._ Evan started to feel tears welling up in his eyes. He took a breath and quickly blinked them away. _**I wish I could tell you. I wish I could tell you all the obvious reasons you're amazing. I wish I could tell you how you're everything to me. Because you are. But I don't even know how to start. This is all I have. So just know that I love you. **_He typed the words and scratched the back of his head. _**Sincerely, Evan Hansen.**_ He stared at his own name for a moment. He deleted it. _**Sincerely, Me.**_ He'd finish this letter the way he'd finish any of the letters to himself. And without giving it a second thought, he hit print.

As he stared at the screen, rereading the letter, he began having second thoughts. _How could I even give this to Zoe? Sure my name isn't on it, but she'd probably still know it was me. And she'd think I'm some creepy stalker or something. Holy shit she's going to hate me. If she doesn't already from when I kissed her. She's never going to talk to me again. I need to rip up this letter. I can't let her read it. _With that, he stood up from his seat and charged towards the printer, where the paper sat, untouched. He quickly grabbed it, and ripped it down the center. For good measure, he ripped it again before throwing it in the trash can. He covered his face with his hands. _I'm an idiot. I'm an idiot. I can't believe I even thought for a second I could give it to Zoe. There's no way. No way in hell._

"Evan?" At the sound of his name he jumped, dropping one of his folders. "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he replied, kneeling down to pick up the folder from the ground.

"Why are you sorry?" He looked over to who the voice was coming from, which made him drop his folder again. _Shit._ Right in front of him was Zoe. Zoe Murphy. The very girl he just wrote an entire love letter to. She kneeled down and picked up his folder for him, then handed it to him.

"Oh, because I just- I dropped it- and-" he rambled, feeling himself turn a bright red. He looked down at his hands, which of course were sweaty. He did his best to wipe them on his shirt without her noticing. "I honestly don't know why, I'm sorry."

"It's fine, you don't need to apologize," she said with a shrug. _Sorry._ "You really want to, don't you?" Evan winced.

"Yes, very much so." Zoe chuckled. Evan smiled. _Her laugh is so wonderful. And she's laughing because of me. Well, maybe _at _me. But I don't blame her. I probably look like an idiot._

"Anyway, I uh-" She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and pulled a folded-up piece of paper out of a pocket in her backpack. "I saw this all torn up in the computer lab." _Shit. Holy shit. This can't be happening._ Evan blushed an even brighter shade of red. He looked down and fussed with the hem of his shirt. He glanced up for a moment, seeing the letter taped back into place.

"Uh, what's- what's that?" Evan said, his voice about ten times higher than usual. Zoe didn't seem to believe him for a second.

" 'Dear Zoe Murphy?' I saw you rip it up. That either means you wrote it, or someone else wrote it, and you didn't want me to see, but because of our… last interaction, I assume it's the former," She said, looking down at the paper, before looking back to Evan. _Oh God, she probably hates me for kissing her. I'm an idiot. _"Why?" Evan ran one of his hands through his hair. _Oh, Jared wrote it and he's trying to mess with me. No. It's a different Zoe Murphy. No. I'm just madly in love with you, but have no other way to tell you. None of these options work._

"I- I just thought you'd _hate_ me or something- if- if you read it…" Evan mumbled, looking down. _And I wouldn't blame you. _He didn't dare to meet her eyes.

"Why?" She looked down at the letter again. Evan shrugged. Zoe stayed silent for a moment. "It's nice to know someone cares this much about me," she said softly. Evan glanced up at her. She gave him one of those subtle, perfect, and real smiles. "I just wish you would have told me up front."

"I didn't know how," he whispered, fumbling with the hem of his shirt again.

"Then why don't you restart? Tell me now." Evan looked up at her, and instead of feeling worried, which he thought he would be, he somehow felt… calm. He smiled.

"Zoe," he began, looking her in the eyes. "I really, _really_ like you. I haven't been able to tell you, but now I am, so do you want to maybe hang out or like go to a movie or something? I don't know." To Evan's surprise, she didn't look disgusted. She didn't run away from him. She smiled.

"I'd love to. There's that new superhero movie that just came out. Want to go see it tonight?" Evan, still a little too shocked for words, just nodded his head quickly. "Great, how does six work for you?" She folded the letter back up and stuffed it back in her pocket.

"Yeah, definitely!" He replied, sounding a little bit _too_ excited. She grinned at him.

"I'll see you at six then."


	21. Day Twenty-One: Shower

**A/N: Me? Actually on time? What a notion. This one's quite a bit shorter than the ones I've been doing recently, but eh, it's ok. It was hard because combining singing and writing is... difficult. But anyway, the song I used is Easy My Mind by none other than the incredible Ben Platt. His entire album is full of bops, relatable songs, and soooo much vibrato. If you haven't listened to it, do so right now. But this song I feel really works with Evan and Zoe, because it's about being in a relationship while having anxiety and so yeah. It's amazing, and I just really love Ben Platt. Enjoy today's oneshot!**

Day Twenty-One: Shower

_Zoe catches Evan singing in the shower and starts singing along from the other side of the door._

Zoe walked out of her room, ukulele in hand, and closed the door behind her. She ran a hand through her hair and began walking down the hall. She stopped in her tracks when she heard a voice coming from the other side of the bathroom door.

_"Most days, I wake up with a pit in my chest. There are thoughts that I can't put to rest. There's a worry that I can't place." _It was very clearly Evan's voice singing against the noise of the water falling from the showerhead. Backing up a few steps, she paused right in front of the door. _"Most nights, I am restless and quiet won't come. So I lay here and wait for the sun. There's a trouble that won't show it's face."_ Evan had never sung in front of Zoe before. He'd always been too afraid, and he claimed he was awful. Zoe couldn't help but disagree. _"You came out of nowhere and you cut through all the noise. I make sense to the madness when I listen to your voice,"_ Evan's was singing quite loudly, like nobody could hear him. He probably guessed nobody was listening, unknowing of Zoe standing outside the door. Sure, she felt a little bad for eavesdropping, but she couldn't help herself. _"Darling, only you can ease my mind. Help me leave these lonely thoughts behind. When they pull me under, and I can feel my sanity start to unwind, Darling only you can ease my mind."_ Zoe kneeled down in front of the door, and sat down with her back up against it. She set her ukulele down next to her and smiled. _"I'll admit, for a moment I felt so afraid. Just to show you the mess that I made. There are pieces I usually hide."_ This song was one of Evan's favorites. Listening to the lyrics, Zoe understood why. It was them. _"But when you collect me with your steady hand, with a language that I understand, I feel put back together inside."_ She smiled to herself, before she shrugged and decided to join in.

_"You came out of nowhere and you cut through all the noise,"_ Zoe sang along Evan, making sure to stay quiet enough so she wouldn't startle him. _"I make sense to the madness when I listen to your voice."_ She went quiet for a moment to listen to Evan belt out the note, but then joined back in, growing a little louder as Evan did. _"Oh, Darling only you can ease my mind. Oh, help me leave these lonely thoughts behind. When they pull me under and I can feel my sanity start to unwind, Darling only you can ease my mind."_ Zoe let out a small chuckle and grinned to herself.

_"Darling, only you can ease my mind," _Evan sang by himself as Zoe stopped to listen. _"Help me leave these lonely thoughts behind."_

_"When they pull me under,"_ Zoe sang with Evan until he cut out. _"And I can feel my sanity start to unwind." _She leaned forward from up against the door and turned around.

_"Darling, only you can ease my mind,"_ Evan joined in again as the two of them sang in harmony. She waited for a moment, before standing up and grabbing her ukulele. She heard the water in the shower stop, and after a minute, the door opened, and Evan poked his head out.

"Zoe?" His hair was still soaking wet, and his face was a bright red.

"Hey hot stuff," she said with a flirtatious smile. He blushed even more red.

"Zoe!" He exclaimed looking away. She took a few steps towards him, before she turned his chin with her hand up to face her. She booped him on the nose.

"You're a great singer," she said with a smile, before leaning in for a quick kiss. She pulled away and took a step back. "Now go put some clothes on and I'll show you how a _real_ singer performs." She lifted up her ukulele and winked at him before turning around and walking away.


	22. Day Twenty-Two: Earth

**A/N: Hey, I'm on time again! And just a heads up, this Thursday, I'm leaving to go on a trip for 3 days, so Wednesday night I'll be posting four one-shots to cover, since I won't be able to. Also, I didn't put Connor in this one just because I wasn't really feeling him and I wanted to go with just the living squad. Happy Earth Day, and enjoy the story.**

Day Twenty-Two: Earth

_Evan drags the group along to an Earth Day celebration._

"Why are we here, Hansen?" Jared grimaced as he folded his arms, looking around the park. Evan had a huge grin on his face as he turned to Jared.

"Because it's Earth Day!" He threw his arms up in the air. Jared was unamused. "We're gonna plant some trees! Pick up trash! For the Earth!"

"We're doing this on purpose and not for detention or anything?" Jared laughed with an eyebrow raised. Evan's arms fell to his sides.

"I think it's a great idea! It's important to make sure our planet is clean!" Alana exclaimed, stepping next to Evan. "Also it should count towards community service hours. Not that I need any, but you all probably do." Jared rolled his eyes.

"Jared's just salty because he thought we were going to A La Mode," Zoe said with a smirk.

"We passed _right _by it, and none of you batted an eye." Jared scowled.

"Well, maybe we can get some ice cream _after_ we help the Earth?" Evan suggested with a shrug. Jared looked at Evan out of the corner of his eye.

"Only if you're paying," he said, pointing to Evan as he walked past him and over to the sign-up table. Evan sighed, shaking his head as the rest of the group followed Jared. "Also, why didn't Connor have to come? We all should have to suffer."

"My brother is celebrating Earth day in a… different way," Zoe said, looking over to Evan.

"Oh, so he's high," Jared said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah. He is." Zoe crossed her arms. The four of them approached the pop-up.

"Hi! Are any of you eighteen, or all you all minors?" The lady asked, pen in hand.

"I'm eighteen, and so is he," Alana said, pointing to Evan. "These two are 17." Zoe shot Jared a look. Jared just groaned and looked away.

"Ok, what are your names?" The lady asked as Alana filled out everyone's info for them. "Alright, gloves and buckets are over there. Have fun saving the planet!" The four teens walked over to other other table.

"I call the orange gloves!" Jared exclaimed as he reached for the pair off the table.

"I want purple!" Zoe called after him, grabbing the pair off the table, along with the green pair for Evan. Alana grabbed a blue pair, they grabbed buckets and headed out to the creek. There were already several other groups of people leaning over to pick up bits of trash surrounding the water.

"O-okay, so I think- I think we should mostly stick together, just so we don't get lost," Evan said to the group.

"Race you to the other side!" Jared called out as he dashed across the dirt patch that crossed the creek. Alana ran after him.

"Not fair! You had a head start!" She yelled. Zoe closed her eyes and laughed.

"Next time, we're getting a babysitter," Zoe said as she bent down to pick up a piece of trash and throw it in the bucket. Evan laughed.

"At least Connor's not here, he would have pushed Jared into the water." Zoe smiled.

"No doubt, he would," She replied. Hearing some yelling from across the creek, which obviously came from Jared, she shook her head and sighed. "I probably will at some point today." The two of them walked the dirt path towards Jared and Alana, picking up trash along the way.

"Fine, whoever collects the most trash in five minutes gets the other ice cream." They heard Alana's voice from around the corner.

"Deal," Jared replied. "Ready… set…"

"Wait! Jared! Alana!" Evan exclaimed as he and Zoe walked around the corner. Jared and Alana were leaning over, like they were about to start running a marathon. Evan looked to Zoe, who nodded. "Care if we join in?" Jared rolled his eyes, then motioned his arm for them to join. Zoe and Evan walked over next to Jared and Alana.

"On the count of three," Alana said. "Three… two… one!" With that, the four of them all sprinted in opposite directions, scanning the ground for trash. Evan made his way towards the creek, finding all sorts of straws, cups, all kinds of waste. Soon enough, Zoe joined him over by the creek. They both reached for the same piece of trash at the same time and almost bumped their heads together.

"Hey, watch it, you nerd, I'm trying to win here." Zoe gave Evan a half-smile.

"Too bad, I'm already winning," Evan said with a grin. Evan spotted a huge piece of rubber floating in the creek. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Zoe saw it too. He set down his bucket, then dashed towards the creek. Zoe ran alongside him and they both reached out with all their might for the trash. Reaching. Reaching. Almost.

Another step forward and they both fell face-first into the creek. Zoe let out a squeal at the cold water as she resurfaced. Evan wiped the water out of his eyes and laughed.

"Are you guys okay?" Alana called. "The five minutes are up." She walked into sight and saw Evan and Zoe laughing, completely soaked. "What happened?"

"What, are they making out or something?" Jared chuckled to myself as he walked to Alana's side. "Nope, they fell in the water. Not nearly as exciting." Evan threw his hands in the air and shrugged.

"Well, we fell in here for a reason," Zoe said, reaching over to grab the chunk of rubber, then lifted it in the air. "Yay, conservation!" Evan stood up and shook some of the water off before holding out a hand to Zoe. She took it and the two walked out of the creek. Zoe set the trash in her bucket. "That better count extra points."

"No, I still won," Alana said. "But maybe all of you combined could be half of what I got." Jared rolled his eyes.

"I don't know if it's her glasses, but she has some like super trash radar that let her find even invisible trash. I don't know how you did it," Jared said, crossing his arms. Evan put his arm around Zoe's shoulder.

"Well, I would have gotten a lot more if it weren't for Zoe," Evan teased. "Taking over my area."

"Hey, we didn't claim areas! You can't make up the rules, Evan," Zoe replied, shrugging.

"Anyway, you still owe me ice cream, Hansen," Jared said, tapping Evan on the shoulder. "Let's get a move on! A La Mode, here we come!" Evan shook his head and sighed.

"You guys owe me ice cream too since I won, so," Alana shrugged, as she and Jared began walking back.

"I'm gonna go broke because of these guys," Evan chuckled. Zoe rested her head on Evan's shoulder as they started to follow Jared and Alana.

"It's ok, I'll buy you ice cream," Zoe said with a smile.

"Pistachio?" Evan asked.  
"Bad choice, but if that's what you want, I'll oblige."


	23. Day Twenty-Three: Sprout

**A/N: Wow I spent wayyyy too long researching flowers for this one. It ****_sort of_**** relates to the prompt, but like, not really. I don't think anyone really cares at this point. But hey, we're almost done. I've decided I probably won't be doing another one of these next month. I just feel like I'm not putting out the best content that I can, and I miss actually editing my work. I might do another in the future, but for now, I'll end it on April 30th. Cool beans. Anyway, hope you enjoy this one!**

Day Twenty-Three: Sprout

_Zoe helps Evan plant some new plants in his garden._

Zoe knocked on the front door, leaning slightly to the side as she waited for a response. After a moment, she was greeted by Evan's mother.

"Oh! Hi, Zoe! How are you, hon?" She beamed.

"I'm good, how are you?" Zoe replied with a smile.

"Oh, all good, all good. Come on in," she said, holding the door open for Zoe, who nodded as she passed her. "Evan's out back in the garden again, it's that time of year, you know. He spends most of his time out there tending to the plants." She put a hand on her hip as she closed the door behind them. "It's just around the corner once you go outside. If you could bring him some water when you go see him, he forgets to stay hydrated when he's out there sometimes."

"Of course! Thanks Mrs. Hansen," Zoe said.

"Please, hon, call me Heidi." She put a hand on Zoe's shoulder before walking into another room. Zoe went to grab a water bottle from their fridge, then opened the sliding glass door and walked into the backyard. As she turned around the corner, she could see the back of a green polo bent over a planter box. She grinned and put a hand on her hip.

"Whatcha growin'?" She asked. Evan jumped a little before turning around to face Zoe. His face softened.

"Uh, I'm just planting some more flowers in the garden," he replied, wiping away the sweat from his brow with his wrist. "Figured if I do, that'll bring in more bumblebees."

"They're pretty too," Zoe said, walking over and handing Evan the water bottle. He nodded with a smile, taking the bottle from her.

"They're pretty too," he repeated, opening the bottle of water and taking a drink. Zoe kneeled down next to him, and sat, crossing her legs.

"Anything I can do to help?" Evan turned his head. He handed her the shovel.

"You wanna dig out a hole right here," he said, pointing to a spot in the dirt. Zoe got up on her knees and started digging.

"How deep?" She asked.

"Just about how deep this is." Evan held up the flower he was about to pot. Zoe nodded, digging slightly deeper in to fit. Evan pulled the flower out of the packaging it came in, then leaned over to where Zoe dug the hole. He placed the flower in the hole, and with Zoe's help, recovered it with more soil. After soaking it with a good amount of water, it was all set.

"Yay!" Zoe said softly, clapping her dirt-covered hands together.

"Yay," Evan echoed with a smile. Zoe looked down at the flowers planted. Behind the newly relocated plants, she spotted a hint of green.

"What's that?" She said, peeking over the flowers. Evan did the same. Hidden beneath the plants was the tiniest sprout. Evan leaned closer, reaching his hand out to examine the tiny leaf.

"Oh," he said softly with realization. "Oh wow."

"What?" Zoe asked, turning to him. Evan smiled to himself. He chuckled.

"It's kind of embarrassing," he said, looking down. Zoe grinned.

"What is it? Tell me." Evan raised his eyebrows, then shrugged.

"Well, when- when I first started to _really_ like you," Evan said, blushing a little. "Mind you, this was in like, sophomore year." Zoe laughed. "I didn't know how to talk to you, but I saw you in the jazz band concerts, and I kept convincing myself one of the performances I was going to go and bring you flowers. Tell you how good you were, all that." He looked away, recalling the memories. "I had read in a book that tulips symbolize love, and so instead of buying tulips, no, that wasn't personal enough." Evan shook his head as he put a hand on his forehead. "I convinced myself I was going to grow them myself. From seeds." He chuckled to himself. "They never sprouted. And so I never ended up talking to you. It's really stupid."

"I think it's sweet," Zoe said, looking over at Evan with a grin. Evan half-smiled back at her.

"Kind of ironic they're sprouting now," Evan said. "I don't think I'll have a problem talking to you at a jazz band concert anymore." Zoe chuckled.

"You never know." Zoe shrugged. Zoe leaned over and kissed Evan on the cheek. "Now, let's get back to planting these flowers!"


	24. Day Twenty-Four: Sweetpea

**A/N: Alright, here comes the spam of one-shots. I'm leaving on my trip in the morning and I have to get up at 4:45. Eek. Anyway, I probably won't be doing authors notes on the next ones just to save time, unless I deem it necessary. **

Day Twenty-Four: Sweetpea

_Evan brings Zoe flowers after her jazz band concert. _

Evan sat in the middle of the concert hall, foot tapping along to the rhythm of the jazz music. A smiled formed on the corners of his mouth as he pulled the bouquet of flowers on his lap closer to him. He watched the stage intently, eyes focused on the girl under the spotlight.

Zoe sat on the stool, guitar in her lap. She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, then rested her fingers on the frets of the guitar. She took a deep breath as she prepared for her solo. She waited until the music died down and the applause ceased, then started strumming a few chords. She switched effortlessly between the chords; she'd practiced this song about a million times. She leaned over towards the microphone stand and started to sing out the words of the song, her voice soft, but still clear. She started a new strumming pattern, and looked out in the crowd. She could barely make out faces in the dark, but within moments as she glanced out, it was easy to spot Evan with his ear-to-ear grin. She let out a tiny half-smile as she continued to strum her guitar. She sang out the words with her whole heart, looking directly at Evan the whole time.

As soon as she finished singing, Evan stood bolt upright, quickly recovering the bouquet that he fumbled and erupting with applause. He let out a few cheers as Zoe took the guitar strap off from around her neck and took a bow.

There were a few more acts in the concert without Zoe in them, but Evan didn't pay much attention. His mind kept replaying Zoe's solo. And before he knew it, the concert was over. He took the bouquet in his hands, then slowly made his way out of the aisle of chairs. He tapped his fingers as he looked over the heads of the crowd, trying to find Zoe. He stood off in a corner, trying to get out of everyone's way, and glanced around. He looked down at the flowers in his hands. He had picked out a bunch of sweetpeas, because he remembered Zoe point them out when they were on a walk once. They were white, with long green stems. He just hoped she'd like them.

As he looked up again, he could see the top of Zoe's head, her guitar case on her back. Slowly but surely, he started to make his way over to her.

"Zoe," he tried to call out, the noise of the room overtaking his voice. He cupped a hand around his mouth. "Zoe!" He repeated. This time hearing his voice, she turned her head towards it. Meeting eyes with him, her face brightened up and she started walking over. Once they reunited, she swung her arms wide open for a hug. Evan embraced her, pulling her in close to him. "You were so amazing up there," he said before kissing her on the top of her head. Zoe giggled a bit.

"Thank you," she replied. "Ugh, I'm so mad though, I mixed up two of the chords towards the end and it sounded all weird." Zoe winced. Evan raised his eyebrows at her and shook his head.

"I thought you sounded perfect," Evan said with a smile. Remembering the bouquet in his hands he held it out to her. "These are for you." Zoe half-smiled at him, and gave him a look as if to say, _"You didn't have to."_ Evan gave her a look back that said, _"Yeah, I really did."_ She took the flowers from him, and examined them.

"They're beautiful, Ev." She pulled them closer to her.

"Not as beautiful as you," he replied with a cheeky grin. Zoe blushed and rolled her eyes. She put an arm around his waist, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"You're so cheesy," she said quietly.

"I know," Evan replied, resting his head on hers. The two of them swayed back and forth a bit before pulling away. "Now, let's go get some celebratory ice cream."

"Can't say no to that," Zoe chuckled, lacing her fingers with Evan's as the two of them walked out the doors of the concert hall.


	25. Day Twenty-Five: Assist

Day Twenty-Five: Assist

_Zoe's about a foot shorter than Evan. So when she needs something from the top shelf she calls him._

"Come on! Why must you be so far away?" Zoe exclaimed. She was on her tiptoes, arms extended as far as they could go as she attempted to grab a box of cookies from the top shelf of the cabinet. Her dad always ended up putting groceries up on the top shelf, which wasn't a problem for him or Connor, but she and her mom always struggled to get them when they needed them. "Curse you! Damn tall shelves! Damn Mom for passing on the short gene to me!"

"You good, Zo?" Evan called from the other room. Zoe let out a loud grunt of annoyance. Taking that as a no, Evan quickly stumbled into the kitchen to see her with her hands holding onto one of the shelves, trying to climb up. "Need some assistance?" He crossed his arms and grinned at her. She groaned as she lost her footing and fell. She turned her head towards him with a frown. "I'll take that as a yes." He walked over to her and grabbed her hands, pulling her up. He patted her on the head. "It's ok, short stuff, I'll help you." He booped her on the nose.

"I'm not that short!" She protested, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm 5'4!"

"It's ok to be vertically challenged, we all can't be 6 feet tall." Zoe frowned.

"Shut up, you skyscraper and help me get these cookies." Evan grinned and walked over to the cabinet. He pointed to the box.

"These ones?" he asked. She nodded. While maintaining eye contact with Zoe and without any extra effort he grabbed the box off the top shelf and handed it to Zoe. She just frowned.

"Wow, okay, I see how it is," she said with a shrug.

"Need anything else?" She shot him a look.

"Yeah, actually, there's a box of popcorn up there I think, way in the back." She put her hands on her hips. He raised an eyebrow at her before turning back to the cabinet and looking towards the back.

"I'm not seeing- Oh wait there it is." He reached to the back of the shelf, then pulled out the box of popcorn. He handed it to Zoe with a smug look on his face.

"Thank you, Giraffe."

"You're welcome, Mouse." She rolled her eyes at him. "Sure that's all you need?" Zoe crossed her arms and looked away.

"I could use a kiss," she said with a smirk. He chuckled.

"I can manage that," he replied, putting his hands around her waist. She dropped the boxes and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Lifting her off the ground, he leaned in for a kiss. She closed her eyes and kissed back, a smile forming on the corner of her lips. After a moment they pulled away and Evan sat her back on the ground. She chuckled and nodded her head. After leaning down to pick up the boxes, she looked back at Evan.

"Now, let's go watch a movie you big giant tree," she said with a wink. He smiled back and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Did you know that the tallest tree in the world is actually the redwood?" He said, as Zoe raised her eyebrows at him. "It can grow to be over 300 feet tall." The two of them began walking into the other room.

"Yep, that's you," she said with a laugh. "You're a redwood."


	26. Day Twenty-Six: Thrive

**A/N: Hey y'all. I just wanted to say that this one is another one of my favorites. Rivaling "New" and "Rip" for my top one so far. This one kind of explains the AU that I've set this in, as far as the lying and Connor and the Bandtrees relationship. I feel like in this one I was able to kind of get Zoe's vibe right. I got some inspiration from the cut song ****_Hiding in Your Hands,_**** which is a total bop. Mallory Bechtel is an icon. Anyway, enjoy.**

Day Twenty-Six: Thrive

_After being with Zoe, Evan's not just surviving anymore_

At the beginning of the year, Evan figured that it would be exactly the same as his junior year. Nobody would talk to him except Jared and sometimes Alana. His anxiety would get worse and worse at his mom hoped he'd make more friends, be social. _"It's your senior year, Evan,"_ she'd say. _"It's your last chance to really put yourself out there and have fun."_ Yeah, that was likely. He figured he'd keep admiring Zoe Murphy from afar, never really finding out how to talk to her. Who would have guessed that one of the letters to himself would change all that.

_This wasn't an amazing day after all. This isn't going to be an amazing week or an amazing year._ That's what his letter said. Then Connor took it. Signed his cast, then left without a trace. Evan thought that was it. The year was going to be shit. Connor was going to tell Zoe, then Zoe would hate him without hardly ever speaking a word to him.

Until they found Connor passed out in the park. Alive, but still unconscious. And they found Evan's letter, which was folded up in Connor's pocket. Evan was called into the principal's office with Connor's parents. They were so distraught. _"The doctor's aren't sure if he'll even wake up," _His mom had said. Evan didn't know what to do. What was he supposed to tell them? _"I'm so sorry about your son, the letter wasn't his. We weren't friends. I'm just madly in love with your daughter who hardly knows me."_

So he lied. Well, not right then. He just couldn't say no. And so he got invited to dinner. And that when it started to spiral out of control. A whole lie about how he broke his arm. How Connor was with him that day. It got so big, Evan started to believe it himself. Easier than the truth. He didn't let go. He fell. He wasn't alone. Connor was with him.

Then Zoe started asking questions. _"All my hope is pinned on Zoe, who I don't even know, and who doesn't know me."_ He couldn't tell her the truth, not outright. So, he lied again. This time it was easier. All of those little things he noticed about her. Her smile. The stars on the cuffs of her jeans. The indigo streaks in her hair. That wasn't Evan, it was Connor.

Until things got out of hand. Evan let too much of himself show. And he kissed her. He kissed her on her comatose brother's bed. She didn't kiss back, obviously. She just ran away. How could he have been that stupid. What lie could he use to cover up? He loved her. And now she knew.

That's when things started falling apart. The doctors said it was more likely now that Connor would wake up. In the next few days, perhaps. Evan didn't know what to do. Once Connor was awake, everyone would know he lied.

So he did the hardest possible thing. He told the truth. The whole truth. He wasn't Connor's best friend. He was just some lonely kid wishing he had a friend. Connor didn't think those things about Zoe. Evan did. There was no one there to get him when he broke his arm. He was all alone.

They were mad of course. As they rightfully should have been. Evan messed up. He messed up really badly. He was just lucky he didn't let it go any farther than it did.

But then, about a week later, Connor woke up. The Murphy's invited Evan to see him. To actually see him. Connor was, well Connor about it. Until he brought up the letter. Connor was able to explain himself. It turned out Evan's letter explained exactly how Connor was feeling. Alone. Wishing he was a part of something more. Wishing he could get some help. So Connor went to rehab. Got the help he needed.

While he was there, the Murphy's began to forgive him. Every now and then, when his mom was working late, they'd invite him over for dinner. Then Evan wrote another letter. This time, not to himself, but to Zoe. Telling her everything he felt. The truth and nothing but the truth. And from there, their relationship spiraled. This time, in a good way.

It started with one date. Then another. Then some more. Then a kiss. A real one. They made each other happy. Zoe always felt like her life revolved around Connor. Evan made her feel special. She always felt like she had to be perfect. She couldn't let her feelings show lest she show some sign of weakness. Around Evan, she didn't have to be perfect. She didn't have to be strong. Evan always felt like he was on the outside of everything. Zoe made him feel included. Evan always felt like no matter what he did, he was worthless. Zoe showed him he mattered. He meant everything to her. It took time, but through each other, they learned to love themselves.

With the help of Zoe, he was help to step out of his shell a bit. Get closer to Alana and Jared, and after he got back from rehab, sometimes Connor. He wasn't taking his anxiety medication that much anymore. He was able to actually talk to his mom about his feelings.

He still had bad days, though. He still had days when he felt worthless. He still had days when his anxiety took over and he felt helpless. He still had days when he thought, _"Maybe this is all in my head. Maybe everyone actually hates me after all."_ But this time, when he had these feelings, he wasn't alone. This time, he had Zoe. This time, when he was barely surviving, he had Zoe to pick him back up.

Zoe had bad days too. She still had days when her parents would yell and shout; at each other and at her. She still had days when Connor would relapse and come right back, banging on her door, screaming at the top of his lungs. She still had days when she felt like she did everything wrong. She still had days where she thought, _"Maybe I don't deserve to be happy, maybe I have to suffer."_ But this time, she wasn't alone. Now she had Evan, and Evan had her. And they were thriving. Together.


	27. Day Twenty-Seven: Umbrella

Day Twenty-Seven: Umbrella

_Zoe forgets her umbrella, so she shares with Evan._

It was their second date. After the success of the movie, this time they decided to go a little bit more traditional and go out to eat. They picked out a pretty nice italian restaurant close to Zoe's house, nothing too fancy. Evan was trying to save up money, and no matter what Zoe said, he wasn't going to let Zoe buy his food for him; they decided to just buy their own food for themselves to avoid conflict. After eating and getting to know each other a bit better, they decided it was time.

They of course didn't plan for it to start pouring down rain right as they were leaving. Zoe had left her umbrella at home. Evan, however, did bring an umbrella, although it was rather small. The two of them walked out underneath the cover of the roof. The rain came down in bucket-fulls of water, forming many puddles along the sidewalk. It was still rather light outside, but the skyline was completely filled with dark gray clouds.

"Well," Zoe said, folding her arms. She looked down at the tiny umbrella in Evan's hands. "Guess we're gonna have to try to fit both of us under that." Evan looked down at the umbrella too. He lifted it up and pushed it upright. Evan held it so it just barely covered most of his shoulder. Zoe stepped over to beneath it. Standing quite a bit away from each other, they both would still get half soaked. Evan turned his head to Zoe, and Zoe turned hers to Evan. The same thing seemed to be going through both of their minds. Making eye contact, they agreed without any words. Zoe stepped in even closer, her shoulder up against Evan's. Evan moved his arm to place it around her waist. Now that they were both mostly concealed by the umbrella, they smiled and stepped out into the rain.

The noise of the water hitting the umbrella startled Evan at first, but Zoe moved her hand to hold onto the handle, her fingers laying over Evan's. He blushed a bit, but looked away to try and hide it. They slowly and carefully walked along the sidewalk back towards Zoe's house. It was only a 5 minute walk, so Evan just parked his car there.

Zoe glanced around at all of the rain, a hint of a smile on her face. Evan turned his head to look at her. He couldn't help but smile at the way she smiled. The way the light hit her face _just_ perfectly. But before he knew it, she was looking back at him. The two of them stopped right before the crosswalk. There was no one else out and walking. Just the two of them.

Evan looked at Zoe. Zoe looked at Evan. Their eyes met for a brief moment. Evan could feel his breathing start to become a little heavier. He found himself glancing down at her lips, then back to her eyes. _You tried this once,_ he thought to himself. _She probably won't want to again._

But the look in Zoe's eye seemed to say otherwise. Evan raised his eyebrow very slightly. The corners of Zoe's mouth turned up into a smile. _Ok, so we're doing this._ Evan took a deep breath and squeezed the umbrella handle a little tighter. Zoe held onto his hand tighter. Evan leaned in closer. Zoe leaned in closer. They shared one last look before closing their eyes.

Zoe was the one to close the gap between them, placing a hand up to Evan's face and pulling it closer. It took a moment to register in his brain that yes, Zoe Murphy _was_ kissing him, and yes, she actually wanted to this time. Evan pulled her closer as he kissed back. It only lasted for a few moments longer before they pulled back. The two of them looked away as they caught their breath. Zoe chuckled for a moment, her face red as she ran her hand through her hair.

"I think we missed the stoplight," Zoe said, breaking the silence. Evan laughed.

"Guess we've got to wait now," he replied, turning his head to make eye contact with Zoe. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, guess we better find some way to pass the time," she said, a flirtatious glint in her eye. Zoe put a hand up to Evan's face again and pulled him closer for another kiss. Taken by surprise again, he nearly dropped the umbrella. Pulling away quickly with a gasp, Evan winced at he attempted to shake off some of the cold water that fell on him. Zoe bit her lip to avoid laughing. "I am so sorry Evan!" He shrugged before pulling Zoe closer to him. This time, neither of them got wet, and they shared another kiss.


	28. Day Twenty-Eight: Verdant

**A/N: Hey, y'all. I'm back from my trip! It was a lot of fun, and I ended up winning an award for my writing. Now I'm a nationally recognized journalist. Pretty nifty. Anyway, this one hardly relates to the prompt, because the prompt is shit. And it's set in a different AU, also because the prompt is shit. It's basically one where Connor still died, but Zoe and Evan became friends first, and Evan is still holding his feelings inside. Because it's all I could think of. Enjoy!**

Day Twenty-Eight: Verdant

_The group plays a midnight round of truth or dare at the top of a hill. _

"You doubted me!" Jared called out as he walked back up the hill, banana in hand. It was about 9 at night and the moon hung full in the sky. At the very top of the green, grassy hill, all of the kids sat in a circle. They all laughed as Jared took his seat.

"Fine, I'll never doubt your banana-acquiring skills again," Alana said with a shrug. Jared nodded as he unpeeled the banana and took a bite out of it.

"Alright, Jared, it's your turn to ask Evan," Zoe said, plucking some grass out of the ground. Evan's eyes went wide. _Do I pick truth or do I pick dare? There's big risks for both. Also, why- _why _does it have to be Jared asking. He's obviously going to humiliate me. Probably make me tell Zoe that I like her. Or make me embarrass myself in front of her._

"Hansen!" Jared's yell alerted Evan from his thoughts. Evan turned to Jared and whispered an apology. "Truth or Dare?"

"Uh…" Evan looked frantically from side to side. "Truth," he finally said, wincing. _That probably was the wrong decision. I'm going to humiliate myself._ Jared gave him a sly smirk. _This will not end well. This can not end well._

"What was your first kiss like?" Jared asked, crossing his arms. Evan blushed. _Shit. He must have known. He wants to embarrass me in front of Zoe. That's the only explanation._

"I- uh." Evan looked down and fussed with the hem of his shirt. "I- I've actuallyneverkissedanyonebefore…" Evan said softly, his words meshing together.

"Ooh, that's some hot tea right there," Jared said with a chuckle.

"I never thought I'd hear you say those words and I kind of want to wipe it from my memory," Alana said, covering part of her face with her hand.

"You're just jealous," Jared said to Alana before turning back to Evan. "So, never kissed anyone, eh? Still haven't worked up the courage to plant one on-"

"Ok, Zoe, my turn to ask you!" Evan blurted out before Jared could finish his sentence. He turned his head to the girl sitting next to him in the grass. She made eye contact with him and smiled. _Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god._ "Tr-truth or Dare?"

"Truth," she replied with a shrug. _Now's your chance. Ask her if she likes you._ He looked up as he thought of a question. _No, that's too forward. Just ask her something basic._

"Uh." He looked back to Zoe. "What's your favorite color?" Evan looked away. _That's an awful question. You could have done so much better._ Zoe chuckled.

"Wow, lame-ass question there," She said, elbowing Evan in the arm. Evan let out a bit of a laugh. "But purple for sure."

"Alright, now that we've gone around, it's a free choice round. Ask whoever you want," Alana announced, leaning back on her hands. She shared a glance with Jared, who smirked. "I choose Evan." _Oh shit. At least it's not Jared again._ "Truth or Dare?"

"Uh, truth." Evan scratched the back of his head.

"Describe your crush," Alana said with a smile. _Shit. Shit. Shit._ Evan turned bright red. _What the hell do I do? Just- just be anonymous, don't give away any clues. Don't completely screw everything up and you'll be fine._

"Uh, okay." Evan looked down at the grass. "Well, she's got this smile that's just so subtle and perfect and just… real." Evan grinned. "And she always dances like the rest of the world can't see her. And she's so- kind, and genuine- and- and she's just so amazing, but doesn't realize it…" Evan unknowing snuck a look at Zoe before realizing his mistake and looking back down.

"Aw, sappy," Jared said mockingly. "Alright, my turn. Zoe, Truth or Dare?" Zoe shrugged.

"Truth." Jared got a cunning smile on his face. He cracked his knuckles then leaned forward.

"Alright, tell us about _your_ crush, Zoe.¨ Jared rested his chin in his hand. ¨And please make it more interesting than Tree Boy over here.¨ Zoe blushed, then looked away for a moment. _Well, shit. Now I get to find out what kind of guy Zoe likes. See how little of a shot I have with her. _Zoe sighed then looked straight back to Jared.

"Well, he's really sweet, I don't think I've ever said anything unkind to anyone ever. He's quite shy, but really opens up when he talks about what he's passionate about. And he genuinely cares about everyone," Zoe said, smiling as she looked off into the distance. _That sounds kind of like me. Oh, who am I kidding. Of course not. All I'm doing is giving myself false hope. _

"Alright, Zoe. Truth or Dare?" She turned to him, her cheeks still a bright pink.

"Dare," she replied with confidence. _Dare her to kiss you._ Evan blushed. _No. Do _not _do that._ "And make it a good one, eh?" _What qualifies as a good one? Just ask her to throw something at Jared. Something simple. _He bit his lip. _Or, you could get her to tell you who she likes so you can see just how hopeless you are. No, that's a terrible idea._

"I dare you to… tell your crush you like them," Evan said, regretting the words instantly. He didn't even mean to say them out loud. _Shit. Terrible idea it is, then._ Zoe's mouth gaped open and she blushed an even brighter red. She frantically looked from side to side. _Oh no, what have I done?_

"I- I have to go," Zoe said softly, standing up and running down the hill. _What ha_ve I done?

"Holy shit," Jared exclaimed with a chuckle. "Who would have thought?"

"Thought- thought what?" Evan asked, facing Jared.

"Are you really _that_ oblivious?" Jared asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's obvious, Ev," Alana said with a smile. Evan looked to her with confusion. "Fine, I'm taking initiative. Evan, I dare you to go after Zoe." Evan furrowed his brow.

"She likes you, dumbass! Go chase after her!" Jared yelled, standing up. He pulled Evan up from the ground, turned him around, and pushed him in the direction Zoe ran. Evan jogged down the hill. _That's impossible. There's no way Zoe would like me. Why? What could she possibly like about me?_ Evan continued walking until he found Zoe leaning up against a tree.

"Zoe?" He asked. She stood bolt upright, her eyes wide. She walked over to face him.

"I have something to tell you," They said in unison. Both of them blushed. They both took deep breaths. "I like you." They stared at each other in disbelief. _No, she didn't actually say that. That must have been a hallucination._

"You- you do?" Zoe asked, folding her arms. Evan blushed.

"Yeah," he said with a smile. "Since eighth grade." Evan looked up to Zoe. "You- you like me too?" The words sounded weird to him. Never did he think this would ever be a conversation he and Zoe had. Sure, he had daydreamt about it for years, but having it actually happen was surreal. Zoe nodded. Evan looked down. _Wow… _Zoe took a step closer. Evan glanced up and made eye contact with Zoe. She smiled to herself.

"Truth or Dare?" Zoe asked softly. Evan chuckled.

"Dare." Zoe took one of Evan's hands.

"I dare you to have your first kiss right here, right now…" She placed a hand on his cheek. "With me." Evan blushed. He looked into Zoe's eyes. He took a deep breath, putting a hand on her waist. Zoe put her other hand on the other side of Evan's face. Evan placed his other hand on the back of Zoe's head. He glanced down at Zoe's lips for a moment before looking back to her eyes. She smiled. He smiled back. With that, he leaned in. He bumped noses with her and chuckled. Tilting his head more, he leaned back in and kissed her. He closed his eyes as he pulled her closer. _I'm kissing Zoe Murphy. It's actually happening. I'm not dreaming. _ It only lasted for a few moments before they heard cheering from the top of the hill. The two of them pulled away and sighed. They turned their heads up to see Jared and Alana clapping.

"I'm gonna murder you, Jared! Get your last words ready!" Zoe yelled back to them. Jared gave her a thumbs up. "But first." Zoe pulled Evan's face closer to hers and kissed him again, catching him by surprise. He stood still for a moment before holding her closer to him and kissing back.


	29. Day Twenty-Nine: Warming

**A/N: Wow, I can't believe this is the second-to-last story on here. I'm honestly just surprised I've stayed committed to something for an entire month. I hope y'all have enjoyed it. Anyway, this one is back in the regular AU where Connor is alive. It's barely related to the prompt because why should it be (****Oh I know because there's Zoe and all my hope is pinned on Zoe)**** ? Sorry, couldn't help myself. Anyway, enjoy!**

Day Twenty-Nine: Warming

_With the weather warming up, the group decides to visit the beach. _

As the sun hung partway up in the sky, the five teenagers were all squeezed into Zoe's convertible. The windows rolled down, Zoe's hair flew in her face as she drove. Evan had one arm leaning out the window of the front seat, the other on Zoe's shoulder. In the back seat, Alana leaned her head out of the window as she grinned, taking in the smell of the salty air. Connor stuck his hand out the window. Jared folded his arms; he lost the battle of rock, paper, scissors he and Connor had to decide who would have to sit in the middle seat, and was still bitter about it.

As soon as Zoe pulled into the parking spot, they all unbuckled their seatbelts and shot out of their seats. After grabbing their stuff from the trunk, they walked out into the sand. They found an open space and set up their towels and umbrella.

"So, what do you guys wanna do first?" Zoe asked as she sat down on one of the towels.

"I say we should rent some kayaks and race each other," Jared suggested as he sat down.

"Why is everything a competition with you?" Alana said, shaking her head. "I agree with the kayaks, though. That could be fun. I actually won first place in the kayaking contest when I was volunteering as a camp counselor last summer." Jared rolled his eyes.

"Evan? Connor? What do you guys say?" Zoe turned to and from the boys. Connor shrugged.

"As long as I don't have to go in a kayak with you. We know how that ended last time we tried that." Zoe frowned and flipped off her brother.

"I've never done it before," Evan stated, sitting down next to Zoe.

"We can do it together." Zoe took Evan's hand, and he smiled.

"Gross," Jared said. Zoe shot him a look. "Anyway, Alana and I can go head down and get them."

"I think they're 2 person kayaks, so you two can go together, Jared and Connor can go together, and I'll go alone, since I'm clearly the most responsible one," Alana said with a smile. Jared raised his eyebrows before turning around and walking towards the rental shack. Alana jogged to follow him.

"What are we gonna do with them?" Zoe chuckled. Evan grinned at her, putting an arm around her waist. Connor grimaced.

"Get a room, honestly." Zoe searched around for any object that was close enough. She settled for a bottle of sunscreen, picked it up, and threw it at her brother. Connor blocked, catching it before it could hit him. "I was kidding. Calm down."

"Sure," Zoe scoffed. She gave him a sly smirk. "How are you and Daisy doing?" Connor opened his mouth to object, but said nothing. Zoe grinned, content. After a moment, Alana and Jared returned.

"Alright, kayaks are all set to go. You ready to get your asses kicked by yours truly?" Jared said with a smirk.

"In your dreams, Jared. If there's any ass-kicking going on today, it will be me and Evan kicking yours and Connor's." Zoe stood up, then turned around to help Evan up.

"Yeah," Evan echoed, crossing his arms. Jared continued to protest as the five of them made their way back to the water. They grabbed the oars, and climbed into the kayaks. After a bit of struggling to get started, they made their way out into the water. The waves in the bay were calm, just barely rocking the kayak as they paddled out.

"Alright!" Jared yelled out. "First one to pass those buoys, go out to those rocks, and get back here wins." Alana, Evan, and Zoe all paddled out so they were on the same line as Jared and Connor. "On your mark… get set… go!" With that, they all started paddling as fast as they could. They were neck in neck as they passed the first two buoys. As they arrived at the rocks, the waves started getting choppier.

"Are you doing okay?" Zoe asked Evan, who had a worried look on his face.

"Uh, I think so, I'm worried about the turn, though." Zoe nodded. They reached the final buoy, and began to turn the kayak around. Alana did so with ease, and then continued to speed back towards shore. With some effort, Jared and Connor did the same, cursing at each other while they did. Zoe and Evan approached the turn carefully. As they paddled against the water a huge wave came crashing towards them. In an attempt to combat it, the paddle slipped out of Evan's hands.

"No! Shit!" Evan reached out to try and grab it as it slipped away. Zoe kept one hand holding onto her paddle, and tried to help reach for Evan's. Another wave crashed towards them. Zoe quickly leaned back to stop them from tipping over, and in doing so, dropped her paddle as well.

"Shit!" Zoe exclaimed. She ran a hand through her hair. "What the hell are we gonna do now?" The two of them looked out towards the horizon, as the other two kayaks grew smaller and smaller.

"Jared! Alana! Connor!" Evan yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth. No response.

"Connor! Alana! Jared! Anyone!" Zoe did the same, before grunting and hiding her face in her hands. Evan sighed, looking around at the water.

"What- what do we do? How are we going to get back? What- what if we're stuck here?" Evan's breathing started getting faster. Zoe quickly turned around.

"Hey, hey." She took his hands. "Everything's gonna be fine, okay? Just breathe." Evan's eyes were wide, and his hands were shaking. Zoe put an hand on his shoulder. "Take deep breaths with me, okay?" She took a deep breath in, and instructed Evan to do the same. After a few breaths, his hands started to shake less. "There, everything's alright." Evan nodded. "Ok, so now, let's try and brainstorm ideas on how the hell to get back to shore." Zoe bit her lip and glanced around at their surroundings. "Jump out and swim back? No too far. Paddle with our hands?" Evan grimaced.

"Call for help?" Zoe sighed.

"I don't know who would hear us, we're kind of far away." Evan frowned. The two looked back at each other. "I guess we're gonna die out here." Zoe chuckled to herself.

"No one I'd rather die in the middle of the ocean with." Evan laughed, squeezing Zoe's hands. Zoe smiled. She looked from Evan's eyes down to his lips, then back to his eyes. A smile formed in the corner of his mouth. Zoe moved her hands to the sides of his face. She pulled him closer to her, then leaned in for a kiss. He closed his eyes as he put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. After a moment they pulled away. Evan rested his forehead against hers and grinned.

"Hey losers!" A voice called from behind them. Evan lifted his head and leaned over. Zoe turned her head around. The other three paddled back, to them. "We realised you had drifted behind, and figured you were just making out." Zoe frowned. "But then we saw these floating around." Alana held up one of Evan and Zoe's paddles, which she was keeping behind her in the kayak. Zoe turned back to Evan.

"We're not gonna die! Yay!" Evan murmured. Zoe chuckled before turning around in her seat. Alana paddled right alongside Evan and Zoe and handed them their paddles. "Thank you so much for not leaving us behind."

"It took a bit of convincing _Jared_," Connor said as he looked directly at Jared. "But I figured Dad would kill me if I left you guys behind."

"Nice to know you care, Con," Zoe replied, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Alright, let's head back because all that paddling is working up an appetite!" Jared called out as he began paddling back to shore. Zoe turned her head around to Evan, who nodded before starting to paddle back as well.


	30. Day Thirty: Floral

**A/N: Well, folks, here we are. The final one-shot. To be completely honest, I never thought I'd actually manage to finish this. I have terrible commitment issues when it comes to writing, but hey, I did it. I feel like I've improved so much as a writer and really found out what my style is. I know some of these chapters have been kind of shitty, but I've also done some pretty good work in here in my opinion. This story has made me feel happy and angsty and anxious and ****_really_**** single all at the same time. I hope that all 800 something viewers of this enjoyed it, or at least some of you. I certainly enjoyed writing it. I might do one of these again in the future, maybe the same fandom, maybe something different. If you want to leave a review, please do so. I'd love to know what you thought of this. But anyway, here it is. The final one-shot of April. And hello, May.**

Day Thirty: Floral

_Even with all the flowers around the room, Evan still thought Zoe looked more beautiful._

The room, which was just moments ago filled with booming music and screaming, now had shifted to an almost silent calm, only the faint melody of a slow song playing in the background. The gym was dimly lit, flowers draping down from the ceiling. The theme for that year's prom being _The Secret Garden_, a wide array of colors and types of flowers surrounded the walls, which had faux brick paper covering the typically blue walls.

Evan hardly noticed the decorations. Right as he walked in he did, but as soon as he saw Zoe looking around in awe, he found it hard to take his eyes off her. Her hair was partially back and curled. A hint of glittery eyeshadow lit up her face. She wore a navy spaghetti strap, floor-length dress which was embroidered with a pattern of stars and constellations. Evan thought she looked stunning. Throughout the night, he kept thinking to himself, _How did I get this lucky? How did she ever choose me?_

As the slower song started to play, Zoe turned to face Evan. She gave him one of those signature smiles. One of those subtle and perfect and real smiles.

"Care to dance?" With those three words, she held out her hand to Evan. Evan looked into her eyes. He smiled back.

"I'd want nothing more." Evan laced his fingers with Zoe's, and shared one last glance with her before starting to walk towards the center of the room. He was pretty sure he heard a wolf whistle from Jared, but did his best to ignore it. Right now, it was all about him and Zoe. Nothing else mattered. They stopped in a clear spot of the dance floor. He took a deep breath. He ran through his instructions in his mind. He wasn't the best dancer, so Zoe had been teaching all of their friends. _Hand on her waist, hold her other hand. _He looked down at his feet as he raised up the hand that was still intertwined tightly with Zoe's, then placed his other on her waist. Zoe took one hand to lift Evan's chin so he was looking right at her, then rested her hand on his arm.

The chorus of the song began to play through the speakers. Evan kept his eyes on Zoe as he began to move. One step back, one step to the side, one step forward, one step to the other side, repeat. He was doing okay. He hadn't stepped on Zoe's feet, which he considered to be an accomplishment. Zoe grinned at him. A grin that said, _"You're doing great," "Just relax," _and _"Who cares what anyone else thinks?"_ all at the same time. That was one of Zoe's special talents. Being able to tell Evan exactly what he needed without having to say any words.

As Evan got to be more comfortable with the dancing, his grip on Zoe's hand loosened a bit. He pulled her a little bit closer to him. Zoe moved her hand from his arm up to his face. He looked into her eyes. She looked into his. A glance down to her lips, then back up to her eyes. Evan found himself leaning in as Zoe pulled him closer.

A loud beat. The slow song ended, beginning the chords of some nostalgic pop song. Evan pulled away. Zoe moved her hand back down to his arm. They both chuckled. Evan shrugged.

"We can still kind of dance to this," Evan said, shouting over the booming music. Zoe nodded, bouncing up and down a bit to the beat of the music. Evan took her other hand, and started swaying back and forth. Zoe grinned as Evan spinned her around. He let go of her hand and she continued spinning on the ball of her foot, giggling. Evan took her hand back, and spun her until she came right up to him, hand on his chest. He put an arm around her waist, pulling her even closer. She lifted her head up to look at him. He rested his forehead on hers. She ran a hand through his hair.

Evan wasn't sure how long they stayed like that. Just staring into each other's eyes. Could have been a few seconds, could have been an hour. And he didn't care. He felt the happiest that he'd been in a long while. He was with Zoe, and nothing else around them mattered.

The familiar first chords of Zoe's favorite song alerted them. It took everything inside Zoe to not scream, but a tiny squeal did slip out. Zoe couldn't contain her smile as this time, Evan held out his hand for a dance. Zoe nodded quickly, throwing her arms around his shoulders. Evan moved his hands to her waist and the two of them began to sway back and forth. Evan and Zoe kept their eyes locked on each other. Evan let his gaze drop down to her lips. The corners of her mouth curled up into a smile. Evan took a deep breath before leaning in for a kiss. It only took a moment for Zoe to kiss back. He closed his eyes as Zoe stood up on her tiptoes to reach him. Evan tightened his grip on her waist as he lifted her into the air. Zoe moved her hands to to sides of his face. She pulled away after a moment to catch her breath. She grinned as she ran her hands through his hair.

As the song began to lull down, he set her back down on the ground. Zoe put her arms back around his neck and rested her head on his chest. He let his head rest on top of hers as he kept one hand around her waist, the other embracing her arm. They continued to sway as the music was dying out.

"I love you, Evan," Zoe whispered. Evan smiled. "I'm always going to love you." Evan kissed her on the top of her head.

"You're my everything, Zoe," Evan whispered back. "And I can't thank you enough for saving me." Zoe pulled her head away from his shoulder to look at him. She let out a chuckle and shook her head a bit.

"You saved me too." Evan moved both of his hands to her face. Zoe did the same. He gave her one last smile before leaning back in to kiss her passionately.

And so they danced the rest of the night away. Together. The way it was supposed to be. Just him and her. It was only them, and that's all they ever needed it to be.


End file.
